President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he could re-impose “reciprocal” tariffs on some countries in as soon as two or three weeks, a potentially significant re-escalation of the global trade war that has already raised fears of a US and global recession.

Led by New York, twelve U.S. states claim Trump overstepped his authority by imposing tariffs without congressional approval.

In the process he has raised the average effective tariff on goods entering America from 2.5% last year to about 20%, the highest since the Great Depression. The policy process has been chaotic, to put it politely,