Donald Trump’s move this week to delay tariffs on about $160bn worth of Chinese imports until December marked the latest twist in the trade war between Washington and Beijing, which has lasted almost a year and a half. Just two weeks ago the US president was saying they would take effect on September 1.

The purpose, Mr Trump explained, was to shield American consumers from the pain of higher prices in the holiday shopping season, since many of the affected products are Christmas staples such as toys, video game consoles and smartphones.

But the White House may be grappling with a much bigger problem in the coming weeks and months: that the damage from the trade wars, both to the global and US economies, may have already been done, and there is little the administration can do to mitigate it.