President Donald Trump stepped up his campaign to rearrange global trade in favor of the US on Wednesday by imposing higher tariffs on all US imports of steel and aluminum. Canada and Europe quickly retaliated.
By restoring effective 25% tariffs on all metals imports, Trump’s move to strengthen protections for American steel and aluminum producers also extends the levies to hundreds of downstream items, ranging from nuts and bolts to soda cans and bulldozer blades.
Since taking office in January, Trump’s obsession with tariffs has shaken investor, consumer, and corporate confidence in ways that economists fear could lead to a US recession and further lagging behind the rest of the world economy.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive branch responsible for coordinating trade issues, reacted quickly, announcing that starting next month, it will apply counter-tariffs on up to 26 billion euros ($28 billion) worth of US goods, frequently with more symbolic than practical effects.
Ursula von der Leyen, the Commission’s president, nevertheless informed reporters that she had assigned Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic to continue discussing the issue with U.S. officials. She stated, “We firmly believe that it is not in our common interest to burden our economies with such tariffs in a world fraught with geopolitical uncertainties.
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