US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has faced sharp criticism from angry finance ministers of other G7 nations over America’s imposition of new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.

At a heated meeting in the Canadian resort of Whistler, the EU and Canada threatened to retaliate.

But President Trump insisted on Twitter that the US had been “ripped off by other countries for years on trade”.

For finance directors thinking about the post-Brexit global environment, things look bleak.

But as is often with the Trump administration, things can change- so don’t rule out a volte-face at some stage.