“HOW am I going to compete?” asks Sohel Sareshwala. He runs Accu-Swiss, a Californian company making customised components for the manufacture of semiconductors and cars. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminium, both of which he uses as inputs, are eating into his profit margins and delaying his orders. Meanwhile, Mr Sareshwala’s competitors abroad, free of such concerns, can undercut him.

Mr Sareshwala is not alone in his frustration. On June 1st Mr Trump extended tariffs to countries that supplied 81% of America’s steel imports and 96% of aluminium imports in 2017, arguing that this was necessary to protect national security. Tight quotas apply to most of the rest. Only Australia was let off, perhaps because of a friendship between the president and Greg Norman, an Australian golfer, who lobbied on his government’s behalf. Mr Trump’s tariffs and quotas have drawn a chorus of disapproval from American buyers of metal, the governments of Mexico, Canada and the European Union, and anyone concerned about the health of the rules-based system of world trade.

Plenty of business people besides Mr Sareshwala are finding that inputs are dearer and scarcer. Tariffs, imposed or threatened, have dulled foreign competition and pushed up the price of American-made metal. On June 5th hot-rolled steel cost $329 per tone more in America than in western Europe, according to data from S&P Global Platts, a price-benchmark provider. The gap for aluminium was $290. The tariffs work like a tax, leading to more expensive bridges, pipelines, cars and beer cans. The quotas make planning nightmarish. When South Korea’s were announced, some categories had already been filled.

Disquiet among the consumers of affected products is no surprise. More surprising is the resistance from those the tariffs are supposed to help. Though it at first supported tariffs, the United Steelworkers, a trade union, denounced them when they were unveiled because they included Canada, whose metalworkers happen to be members of the union too.

The Aluminum Association, an industry body, also weighed in. Its head, Heidi Brock, labelled Mr Trump’s decision an “unfortunate outcome”. Ms Brock had hoped that any measures would be aimed at tackling Chinese subsidies and overcapacity. Instead, because 97% of the American industry’s jobs are in aluminium processing, and supply chains cross back and forth in North America, the tariffs are a headache for her members.

More pain is on the way. America’s trading partners are promising tariff retaliation that could affect as much as $43bn of its exports (see chart). They have picked products ranging from motorcycles to pork (see article). Retaliation adds to worries that Mr Trump will harm America’s economy not help it. Taking both his trade restrictions and retaliation by others into account, Joseph Francois, Laura Baughman and Daniel Anthony of the Trade Partnership, a consulting firm, estimate that for every job in steel and aluminium gained, 16 would be lost elsewhere.