US presidents from Ronald Reagan to Bill Clinton and George W Bush have used the White House Rose Garden to celebrate significant moments in America’s drive to liberalise the global economy. 

But on Wednesday, Donald Trump chose the venue to announce steep new tariffs on all imports with extra penalties for many of America’s top trading partners, erecting a protectionist barrier around the world’s largest economy in a watershed shift for US international economic policy. 

“It’s our declaration of economic independence,” Trump said, holding up a poster with a list of top countries that would be hit by the tariffs. “For years, hard working American citizens were forced to sit on the sidelines as other nations got rich and powerful, much of it at our expense, but now it’s our turn to prosper,” he added.