WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to levy tariffs onsteel and aluminum imports has received worldwide criticism and retaliatoryintentions from some of its closest allies.
On Thursday, Trump announced his plan to impose penalties of 25 percent onimported steel and 10 percent on imported aluminum, which will come intoeffect next week, Xinhua has reported.
Trump’s planned tariffs have sparked anger from Canada and the EuropeanUnion (EU).
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Trump’s plan will have”significant and serious” economic ramifications on the two nations.
“The United States has a two-billion Canadian dollar surplus on steel withus, so we regard the imposition of any new tariffs or any tariffs on steelor aluminum between our two countries as absolutely unacceptable,” Trudeautold a news conference on Friday.
“Should restrictions be imposed on Canadian steel and aluminum products,Canada will take responsive measures to defend its trade interests andworkers,” Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statementThursday.
Canada is the largest steel exporter to the U.S. market, with steel importsfrom Canada accounting for 16.1 percent of the U.S. total steel imports in2017, according to U.S. Commerce Department data.
Meanwhile, the EU has vowed to take retaliatory measures.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Trump’s decision was”regrettable,” while adding that the European Union would not stand idly by.
“We will now impose duties on motorbikes, Harley Davidsons, on jeans,Levi’s, on bourbon,” Juncker said during a speech late Friday in thenorthern German city of Hamburg, adding that it was “stupid” but necessarybehavior.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel added her voice to a chorus of politicaland industry leaders slamming the proposed import duties.
“The federal government rejects such tariffs,” Merkel’s spokesman SteffenSeibert said, “These tariffs would hit the international trade streams ofour steel and aluminum industry severely.”
“Someone who talks so much about fair trade like President Trump should notresort to such unfair methods,” German Economics Minister Brigitte Zypriessaid, warning that the tariffs could set off “tectonic shifts in worldtrade.”
French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said the outlook for the steel andaluminum sectors was already “fragile.”
“All the options are on the table” if the new tariffs went into effect, hesaid, adding that “a trade war between Europe and the United States willhave only losers.”
Overall, the 28 EU nations make up nearly 21 percent of the steel importsof the United States, the world’s largest steel importer, according to theGerman Steel Federation.
World Trade Organization (WTO) Director General Roberto Azevedo hasexpressed too the organization’s concern over U.S. tariff plans in a briefstatement.
“The WTO is clearly concerned at the announcement of U.S. plans for tariffson steel and aluminum,” Azevedo said on Friday, warning that “the potentialfor escalation is real, as we have seen from the initial responses ofothers.”
“A trade war is in no-one’s interests. The WTO will be watching thesituation very closely,” he added.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also said that the importrestrictions would not only hurt the U.S., but also other economies.
“The import restrictions announced by the U.S. president are likely tocause damage not only outside the U.S., but also to the U.S. economyitself, including to its manufacturing and construction sectors, which aremajor users of aluminum and steel,” said IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice in astatement on Friday.
Ed Hirs, who teaches energy economics at the University of Houston, toldlocal media that Houston’s oil and gas sector and the Gulf Coast regionmight be impacted the most by the tariffs, as the area consumes thousandsof tons of steel in drilling, pipeline and refining operations.
Houston is known as the oil and gas capital of the world as well as home toone of the largest petrochemical manufacturing centers in the world. TheGulf Coast is an area in the southern United States along the northernportion of the Gulf of Mexico.