No winners in reckless president’s steel trade war
shortsightedness worse than Mr Magoo, Trump has proposed a plan to slap tariffs of 25 per cent on imported steel and 10 per cent on aluminium.
“Trade wars are good and easy to win,” he awoke to tweet before his morning coffee cup of joe had a chance to stabilise his thoughts.
And despite Theresa May expressing her “deep concerns” to Trump following his outburst, the US leader says he is adamant no nation will be saved from his plans.
Prices on just about everything – cars, lorries, food that comes in cans – will rise.
Then comes the inevitable retaliation, thanks to the aluminium can of worms Trump has just opened.
Already, the European Union has announced plans to slap tariffs on US motorcycles, bourbon, blue jeans and more.
Others will follow suit, choking off foreign markets when countries across the planet ought to be ripe targets for American producers.
In a fit of pique or political panic, Trump’s latest war will produce casualties throughout the US economy but it is not only in America where the injuries will be felt. For decades, British steel has been left to rack and ruin by successive UK governments.
Once known as the greatest steel in the world, the industry has been stripped of its prestige as thousands of skilled workers have been thrown on the scrap heap.
The dumping of cheaper Chinese products into the UK took our world-class industry to the precipice because of the British government’s inaction.
Now, through Trump’s blind vision of wanting to protect his own workers at the cost of millions of American consumers, he places our industry in grave danger.
If he goes through with his plans, the UK’s embattled steel industry will get hit twice through the planned imposition of swinging tariffs.
There will be the damage caused to the industry’s sales to America – the UK sends £360 million worth of high-value steel product across the Atlantic, which is 15 per cent of the industry’s total exports that will be made uncompetitive. The domestic market and other export markets will also likely take a hit through the fall out from competing countries diverting their produce. Any tariffs imposed on UK steel would be hugely misguided and deprive US manufacturers of some of the most specialist steel in the world.
Government ministers and Theresa May must back Britain’s steelworkers and manufacturing communities by securing assurances from Trump they will not be caught up in a global tariff war between the US and countries such as China. But it is Trump’s chaotic leadership style that gives me hope that he may backtrack on his plans.
The President says his tariff measures won’t be final for a week, which means there might still be time for damage control.
So with more flip-flops than Bondi Beach let us hope Trump performs another of his now infamous U-turns as we hope his flunkies will for once show some true metal warning him of the harm he will do.
It is Trump’s chaotic leadership style that gives me hope that he may backtrack on his plans