Polynomial time reducibility is an equivalence relation
A polynomial-time reduction from $A$ to $B$ is a polynomial-time computable function $f$ that maps an instance $x$ of a problem (language) $A$ to an instance $f(x)$ of a problem $B$ such that $x \in A \iff f(x) \in B$.
Polynomial-time (Karp) reductions are reflexive (since $A \le_p A$), as it follows by choosing $f(x) = x$.
Polynomial-time reductions are transitive, i.e, if $A \le_p B$ and $B \le_p C$ then $A \le_p C$ by choosing $f = h \circ g$, where $g$ (resp. $h$) is a polynomial-time computable function such that $x \in A \iff g(x) \in B$ (resp. $x \in B \iff h(x) \in C)$.
However, Polynomial-time reductions are not symmetric. That is, it is not true that $A \le_p B \implies B \le_p A$.
Consider for example a binary alphabet, $A = \{0,1\}^*$, and $B = \{0\}$.
The function $f(x) =0$ is a valid polynomial-time reduction from $A$ to $B$ but there is no polynomial-time reduction from $B$ to $A$.