US President Donald Trump’s efforts to “rebalance” global trade have spooked Wall Street, disquieted US Treasuries and sent investors rushing to buy gold. They have now also roiled a normally staid corner of financial markets,

Big-name multinationals right down to niche e-commerce players last week cut sales targets, warned of job cuts and reviewed their business plans, while major economies revised down growth prospects amid bleak data read-outs.

While President Donald Trump promises his tariffs will be a net positive for the United States in the long run, his arguments for them in recent days have caused widespread blowback and could become a feature of Democratic attack ads in the midterm elections.