It used to be a refrain of the Republican faithful that the government shouldn’t be in the business of picking winners and losers where industry and technology are concerned.

As President Trump’s global trade war escalates, with the latest round of tariffs going into effect on Friday, his administration is doing just that. The new wrinkle is that it is no longer clear who is being set up to triumph or fail. Tariffs directed at products from one country — whether that’s steel from Canada and China or ca rs from Italy — are just as likely to affect American companies and hurt their workers.

That message came through loud and clear in recent days during the public comment period on the administration’s proposed tariffs on imported cars and parts. The global auto industry relies on supply chains that were built on the free movement of parts and goods. Suppliers, dealers and car manufacturers in the United States and other countries are petrified by the damage that the tariffs could do to their businesses.

General Motors, which warned that the tariffs could lead to job losses in the United States, said in its comments that the new levies could end up “isolating U.S. businesses like G.M. from the global market that helps to preserve and grow our strength here at home.”