Europe, Canada blast Trump’s steel tariffs plan
BERLIN — The European Union, Germany, Canada and other nations have threatened retaliation against the United States after President Trump vowed to slap tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
Denunciations flowed in Friday from governments, lawmakers, metals makers and labor unions.
Steffen Seibert, a spokesman for the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said Friday that the government “rejects” the tariffs, adding that such measures could lead to a global trade war, which “can’t be in anyone’s interest.”
Hans Juergen Kerkhoff, president of the German Steel Federation, said Friday:
“These measure clearly violate the rules of the World Trade Organization. If the EU does not react, our steel industry will pay the bill for U.S. protectionism.” He called on the bloc to take action, through the World Trade Organization.
Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of Community Union, a British labor union, denounced the move on Twitter:
“Donald Trump is putting jobs at risk on both sides of the Atlantic. Thousands of steelworkers across the country voted for Brexit on the promise it would deliver a new era of international trade.”
He called on Prime Minister Theresa May to ensure that steel products exported by Britain were exempt from the proposed tariffs.
Canada’s foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, said: “Canada will take responsive measures to defend its trade interests and workers.”
And the European Commission said it is preparing to impose tariffs on Harley-Davidson motorcycles, Bourbon whiskey & Levi's jeans in retaliation for Trump’s planned tariffs.
The global reactions hinted at a looming trade war if Trump followed through on campaign promises of an “America First” trade policy. He told industry executives Thursday that he planned to levy penalties of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum imports from all countries.
On Friday, the president doubled down on his promise in a Twitter post: “When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win.”
He added later, “If you don’t have steel, you don’t have a country!”
The White House has said that the tariff details remain to be worked out, and Seibert said the German government was awaiting the exact details before assessing the scope of the impact.
The United States is the most important export country for German rolled steel products and the second-most important destination for the European Union, after Turkey, according to official government statistics.
“Such a sweeping blow from the U.S. would reverberate around the world,” said German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel.