I was expecting to wake up Monday morning with the news that Europe had secured an exception to the tariffs on aluminum and steel that Trump announced last week. I didn't, and this article is the newest update on the European response to potential US tariffs.
Just about every major leader of the EU has put out a catch sound bite against the tariffs -- this article quotes Jean Claude Juncker as saying "Make trade, not war" and another leader as referencing the European-US "special relationship." The article also says that the first counter tariffs that the EU will institute will be orange juice, bourbon, denim, peanut butter and cranberries. This article reports a tense exchange between Trump and the EU Trade Commissioner, pointing out that the EU has a 10% tariff on US cars, but the US has a 25% tariff on trucks and pickups. What comes across in this article is a communication breakdown between the two bureaucratic bodies and the European wish to settle the disagreements without having to take it to the WTO.
Another though I had was if Europe, Canada and Mexico all end up exceptions -- what state would actually be seriously effected by these tariffs? We know there are already tariffs targeting China, and that the US isn't in the top 10 countries that China exports steel and aluminum to.... so if Europe successfully gets an exception, who do these effect?
https://www.euractiv.com/section/economy-jobs/news/meps-back-commission-on-rule-based-response-to-trump-on-tariffs/
1 comment:
This is an interesting article based on the likelihood of a tariff war and its wider implications. It seems that in the near future regional alliances like the EU and China are likely to indulge in a trade war and complicate trade of goods across the US border. At this point, however, since tariffs have only been imposed on aluminum and steel things are looking quite uncertain in terms of a trade war.
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