Sometimes it seems as though the different branches of the Obama administration are not on speaking terms. On Monday, the Environmental Protection Agency launched a plan to make US states limit their carbon dioxide emissions. On Tuesday, the commerce department said it would raise the cost for them to comply.

The department announced that after an investigation it had concluded that Chinese companies exporting solar panels to the US were being subsidised by their government, to the detriment of American manufacturers. To right this “wrong”, it plans to impose duties on those imports at rates ranging up to 35.2 per cent to right.

The decision is damaging to both the US economy and the environment, and anyone involved in trade or energy policy in the administration should be embarrassed that they have allowed it to go ahead.