Battles of attrition are messy affairs for all parties involved and tend only to occur once other options have failed. Donald Trump seems to want to make them his preferred economic policy. The U.S. president on Saturday imposed tariffs of 25% on Mexican and most Canadian goods - as well as a fresh 10% levy on Chinese imports - sparking tit-for-tat retaliation and global market ructions.

In executive orders issued on January 20th, the day of Mr Trump’s inauguration, it said that it could respond by doubling taxes on citizens and firms from any offending countries. These orders displayed his advisers’ talent for unearthing obscure statutes that serve their goals: the law that allows the doubling of taxes on foreigners has been in place for nine decades without being used.

President Trump’s tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico could upend U.S. trade. These nine charts show what’s at stake, what comes next and why it matters.

The executive order entitled America First Trade Policy set up a new department to try to deal with the fact that tariffs are not paid for by foreign corporations, but by US firms and consumers.

By Jeff Mason, Trevor Hunnicutt and Kevin Krolicki WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he is in no hurry to speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping to try to defuse a new trade war between the world's two largest economies sparked by his sweeping 10% tariffs on all Chinese imports.

President Trump delayed tariffs on Mexico and Canada, but imposed 10% levies on China, prompting Beijing to retaliate. Follow along for live updates on stocks and markets, including the Dow Jones Industrial Average,

Trump has also threatened to introduce tariffs - a tax on imports - on goods from Canada and Mexico, but paused these for 30 days after both countries agreed to boost border security. The US president has said tariffs are needed to help the American economy and to "protect" the country from the "major threat of illegal aliens and deadly drugs".