And that’s only the beginning.
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He said that a confrontation between the European Union and the United States over trade affairs would be in the interests of neither the Europeans nor the Americans.
As NPR’s John Ydstie reports, during a Thursday meeting, the president promised steel and aluminum executives that he would protect them against foreign competition by levying tariffs on both metals in the coming weeks – 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum.
EU’s retaliation plans are “not out of the blue”, the official said. It was not clear whether Trump would exempt some countries from the tariffs, as his national security advisers have urged him to do to avoid hurting American allies.
It was the latest move by the president to engage in trade actions after campaigning to revitalize the “forgotten” workers of the country.
Fact check: Trump has consistently complained about “unfair” worldwide trade practices.
But Cowen and Company analyst Novid Rassouli says the tariffs shouldn’t cause too much inflation.
World stocks tracked the Wall Street selloff into the close and tumbled on Friday, with investors flocking towards traditional safe havens including government bonds, Japan’s yen and gold. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 1.7%, the S&P 500 fell by 1.3% and the Nasdaq declined 1.3%.
Trump said firm action was crucial to protect United States industry from unfair competition and to bolster national security.
Another Republican Congressman Pete Olson expressed concern over Trump’s decision on proposed tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.
“We will not sit idly while our industry is hit with unfair measures that put thousands of European jobs at risk”, he said.
“China’s total exports of steel and aluminum are equal to about 0.5% of GDP, most of that from steel”, said Bloomberg’s Chief Asia Economist Tom Orlik. History shows that’s generally what happens. The company, which distributes steel as well as processes it into products according to their customer’s specifications, derives about 30 percent of its revenues from the US, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The proposal has left beer and beverage companies wary.
These tariffs – there is also a 10 per cent one on aluminium – have been in the works for some time and as investment bank UBS pointed out in a research note they “do not seem to provide room for country carve outs”.
Garneau even chatted with Ross in Florida during a satellite launch, which they were both attending as news of the tariffs broke Thursday. Farmers in particular are anxious. “American workers and American consumers will suffer as a result of this misguided tariff”.
Mr Mei Xinyu, a researcher at China’s Ministry of Commerce, told The Straits Times: “The US has never been the main market for China’s steel and aluminium export”. Canada is the leading supplier, accounting for 16.7 percent, followed by Brazil at 13.2 percent and South Korea at 9.7 percent.
China would still feel the pain from protective USA measures. The ultimate victim should be China, which would start to choke on its massive overcapacity.
The EU will immediately take counter-measures if the United States imposes tariffs on European steel imports, the European Commission said on Friday (2 March). The last large-scale trade war made the Great Depression in the 1930s worse.
Major players in the U.S. metals industry and their workers, who have long complained of dumping, overcapacity and subsidies by competing producers, would be the obvious beneficiaries.
Trade experts compare the law to a sledgehammer.
The decision on imposing tariffs rests with the President and does not need Congressional approval.
There is little doubt that China sells its steel at unfairly low prices.
“Raising import tariffs is a bad idea”, Bahar added.
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“I think this is scare tactics by the people who want the status quo, who’ve given away jobs in this country, who’ve left us with this enormous trade deficit and one that’s growing”.
