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But on the outskirts of Delta, there is a cluster of steel businesses that have been here since the 1990s and which may be better placed in a new era of American protectionism.

Downing Street has rejected suggestions by the foreign secretary that the latest wave of US tariffs marks the return of a new era of "protectionism".

"It's just an excuse to punish countries and implement sterile protectionism. The trade war will affect everyone, but it'll hit the one imposing it most of all," he warned.

Wang Huiyao, a former China Communist Party member who works with the Center for China and Globalisation think tank, called on Asian countries to "work together to go through this difficult time and fight protectionism".

They can be measured by the lines on a chart of US tariff revenue jumping to levels not seen in a century - beyond those seen during the high protectionism of the 1930s.