The letters listed a range of tariffs. Goods entering the U.S. from Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, and Tunisia will be subject to a 25 percent levy. There will be a 30 percent levy on South African and Bosnian goods, while imports from Indonesia will be subject to a 32 percent rate.

The US president appears to be taking direct aim at the world’s biggest metals processor by targeting exports all along the supply chain.

Its new deal with Vietnam and its fresh tariff threats issued to many other countries seem designed to reduce China’s role in their supply chain. Countries that had hoped to stay out of the new cold war now fear they are being forced to pick a side. To appease the world’s biggest market, they must anger the world’s biggest trader.