Trump’s tariffs could trigger a trade war

T is hard to imagine a US President being unaware of the serious ramifications a major tariff move might have on the world economy, but President Donald Trump seems to have made an off– the– cuff decision to slap tariffs on two major commodities— steel and aluminium. The global economy, which has just been inching its way out of the doldrums, will definitely not escape getting grazed in the expected trade crossfire.

Trump on Thursday ordered the imposition of a 25- percent tariff on steel and a 10- percent tariff on alu

The decision was immediately met with global indignation, followed by fears of a trade war, with major to retaliate.

In a letter to Trump, Kosei Shindo, chairman of the Japan Iron and Steel Federation, said: “It is our view which would cause serious harmful effects, not only on steel exports from Japan, but also on steel trade

chain reaction, affecting not only steel, but also other products considered to have national security implica

The European Union ( EU) has threatened to retaliate, beginning with big US brands. “We will not sit idly in Hamburg, Germany.

was preparing to impose import duties on US products, including Harley- Davidson motorcycles, Bourbon and Levi’s jeans.

But the impact of the steel and aluminium tariffs will not be confined to US trading partners.

surely be caught up in a trade war, and will have to contend with the fact that trade growth will be sluggish and suppressed if that frightful scenario materializes.

Trump has effectively abandoned the US leadership George W. Bush administration amid a push for a new round of global trade negotiations.

consensus – as enunciated by various fora such as the G20, the Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations – not to raise

Trump, of course, ran and won on a protectionist economic platform ( drawn up by a fringe, anti- China economist, Peter Navarro), and his position on trade

To prove this, Trump, in one of his first acts in the - ship ( TPP) free- trade agreement that was championed

The tariff cuts, however, are far more provocative and will surely upend the global trade regime; the TPP in contrast can and will move forward even in the absence of the US in the mix.

serious business with global implications far weightier courting the favor of America’s moribund rust belt.