This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/may/31/us-fires-opening-salvo-in-trade-war-with-eu-canada-and-mexico
The article has changed 10 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| US hits allies with steel tariffs to spark trade war with EU, Canada and Mexico | US hits allies with steel tariffs to spark trade war with EU, Canada and Mexico |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A full-scale trade war between Washington and Brussels is looming after the US announced that it was imposing tariffs on imported steel and aluminium from the EU. | |
| The president of the European commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, promised swift retaliation after the US commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, said EU companies would face a 25% duty on steel and a 10% duty on aluminium from midnight on Thursday. | |
| Europe, along with Canada and Mexico, had been granted a temporary reprieve from the tariffs after they were unveiled by Donald Trump two months ago. | |
| But Ross said insufficient progress had been made in talks with three of the US’s traditional allies to reduce America’s trade deficit and that the waiver was being lifted. | |
| The move – which comes at a time when Trump is also threatening protectionist action against China – triggered an immediate response from Brussels. | |
| Juncker called the US move “unjustified” and said that the EU had no choice but to hit back with tariffs on US goods and a case at the World Trade Organisation in Geneva. | |
| “We will defend the Union’s interests, in full compliance with international trade law,” he added. Brussels has already announced that it would target Levi’s jeans, Harley Davidson motorbikes and bourbon whiskey. | |
| Britain, which has hopes of agreeing a trade liberalisation deal with the US after Brexit, expressed alarm at Ross’s announcement. | |
| “We are deeply disappointed that the US has decided to apply tariffs to steel and aluminium imports from the EU on national security grounds,” a government spokesman said. | |
| “The UK and other European Union countries are close allies of the US and should be permanently and fully exempted from the American measures on steel and aluminium.” | |
| Downing Street said Theresa May would raise the issue with Trump at next week’s meeting of the G7 industrial nations in Canada. | |
| The struggling UK steel industry reacted with alarm to the news. | |
| The director of UK Steel, Gareth Stace, said: “President Trump had already loaded the gun and today, we now know that the US administration has unfortunately fired it and potentially started a damaging trade war. | |
| “Since President Trump stated his plans to impose blanket tariffs on steel imports almost three months ago, the UK steel sector had hoped for the best, but still feared the worst. With the expiration of the EU exemption now confirmed to take effect tomorrow [Friday, 1 June], unfortunately our pessimism was justified and we will now see damage not only to the UK steel sector, but also the US economy.” | |
| The CBI warned the EU against overreacting to Washington’s move. Ben Digby, international director at the employers’ organisation, said: “The president’s measures are deeply concerning for firms in the UK, for close trading partners and across supply chains.” | |
| Trump announced his tariffs in March as a way of protecting US firms from cheap imports, but Digby said the problem was caused by global overproduction of the metals and needed to tackled jointly by Brussels and Washington. | |
| “There are no winners in a trade war, which will damage prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic. These tariffs could lead to a protectionist domino effect, damaging firms, employees and consumers in the US, UK and many other trading partners. Now is not the time for any disproportionate escalation, and we urge the EU to consider this when initiating its response.” | |
| But neither side showed any immediate sign of being willing to defuse the tension. Cecilia Malmström, the European trade commissioner, said the Brussels response would be proportionate and in accordance with WTO rules. Ross shrugged off the threat of EU retaliation, saying it would have little impact on the US economy. | |
| Manfred Weber, the leader of the European People’s party, the largest group in the European parliament, and a key ally of the German chancellor, warned that treating the EU as the “enemy” would damage US consumers. | |
| “Europe does not want a trade conflict. We believe in a fair trade regime from which everybody benefits,” he said. | |
| “We have tried everything to make dialogue and mutual understanding prevail. If President Trump decides to treat Europe as an enemy, we will have no choice but to defend European industry, European jobs, European interests.” | |
| Ross blamed insufficient progress in talks with Mexico and Canada over changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement )Nafta) for the US’s decision to slap taiffs on its two neighbours. | |
| Mexico’s under-secretary of foreign trade, Juan Carlos Baker, tweeted: “Mexico categorically rejects any unilateral, protectionist measures that distort trade in North America.” | |
| Steel industry | Steel industry |
| Trade policy | Trade policy |
| European Union | European Union |
| Europe | Europe |
| news | news |
| Share on Facebook | Share on Facebook |
| Share on Twitter | Share on Twitter |
| Share via Email | Share via Email |
| Share on LinkedIn | Share on LinkedIn |
| Share on Pinterest | Share on Pinterest |
| Share on Google+ | Share on Google+ |
| Share on WhatsApp | Share on WhatsApp |
| Share on Messenger | Share on Messenger |
| Reuse this content | Reuse this content |