Washington (AFP) – US President Donald Trump plans to impose 25-percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Monday, prompting the threat of retaliation from Europe and a warning from China that there were no winners in a trade war. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One Sunday that the tariffs — which he will announce later Monday — will apply to “any steel coming into the United States,” adding this will also affect aluminum.
Trump imposed similar tariffs during his 2017-2021 presidency to protect US industries, which he believed faced unfair competition from Asian and European countries. While the European Commission said Monday it had not received any official notification of the tariffs, French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the European Union will counter in kind and “replicate” any imposed.
“There is no hesitation when it comes to defending our interests,” he said during an interview with broadcaster TF1. “We will react to protect the interests of European businesses, workers and consumers from unjustified measures,” the European Commission said in a statement. Canada — which Trump has already threatened with tariffs — is the largest source of steel and aluminum imports to the United States, according to US trade data. Brazil, Mexico and South Korea are also major steel providers.
But around 25 percent of European steel exports go to the US, according to consultants Roland Berger, who warned in a recent note that “any tax from the United States would hurt the European sector.” German economy minister Robert Habeck, also vice chancellor of Europe’s biggest economy, said a tariff conflict “only has losers.”
“But it is also clear that Europe must and can only react to unilateral trade restrictions in a united and determined manner,” he said in a statement. “And we are prepared for that.” On Sunday, Trump also said he would announce “reciprocal tariffs” to match his government’s levies to the rates charged by other countries on US products. “Every country will be reciprocal,” Trump said, adding that he would make a detailed announcement on the tariffs on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Trump has already shown his fondness for weaponizing the United States’ financial power, ordering tariffs on key trade partners China, Mexico and Canada soon after he took office. He paused 25-percent levies against Canada and Mexico for a month after both countries vowed to step up measures to counter flows of the drug fentanyl and the crossing of undocumented migrants into the United States. The tariffs against China went ahead, however, with products entering the United States facing additional levies of 10 percent since Tuesday.
Beijing responded with targeted tariffs on certain US products such as coal and liquefied natural gas, which will come into play on Monday. The new Chinese tariffs cover $14 billion worth of US goods, while the tariffs announced by Trump cover $525 billion worth of Chinese goods, according to Goldman Sachs. On Monday, foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun reiterated “there is no winner in a trade war and tariff war.”
Trump has also pledged tariffs on the EU and said that he would soon announce unspecified “reciprocal tariffs.” French President Emmanuel Macron vowed in an interview aired Sunday to go head-to-head with Trump over his financial threats to Europe, though he said that the United States should focus its efforts on China rather than the EU. Macron also warned on CNN that Americans would feel the effects of any tariffs on Europe, saying they “will increase the costs and create inflation in the US.”
In an otherwise friendly meeting Friday with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Trump warned Tokyo could still face tariffs on exported goods if it fails to cut the US trade deficit with Japan to zero. The trade deficit of the United States — the world’s largest economy — widened last year to nearly $920 billion. Trump, who has promised a “new golden age” for the United States, has insisted that the impact of any tariffs would be borne by foreign exporters without being passed on to US consumers, despite most experts saying the contrary.
But he did acknowledge after announcing tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China earlier this month that Americans might feel economic “pain.” Trump has wielded tariffs as a threat to achieve his wider policy goals, most recently when he said he would slap them on Colombia when it turned back US military planes carrying deported migrants. After a day-long showdown with Trump, the Colombian government backed down.
© 2024 AFP
