Business Journalist, BBC News
US President Donald Trump has pledged to impose more tariffs after his last move of the introduction of imports of imports to steel and aluminum entering the United States, has encouraged the retaliation of the European Union (EU) and Canada.
Trump said that “of course” he would respond to countermeasures, repeating his warning to discover the “reciprocal” tariffs on countries around the world next month.
“Whatever they charge for us, we charge them,” he said.
The threat marked the further escalation of a trade war that thickened the financial markets due to concern about the impact on economics and consumers in many countries of the world, including the US.
Trump moved forward on Wednesday with a plan to expand US tariffs to steel and aluminum, imposing a covered duty of 25% and ending the exemption that they have previously assigned to shipments from some countries.
This month was followed by the order of this month, in which he charged the payment of Chinese imports to the United States at least 20%.
Trump also threatened tariffs – which apply goods taxes when they enter the ground – on a number of specific items, including copper, wood and cars.
Leaders in Canada and Europe have called new metal taxes Unjustified and reciprocated with their own tariffs to a number of American products.
Other countries that are key American metal suppliers, including the UK, Australia, Mexico and Brazil, have lingered in the immediate retaliation.
“Like everyone else, I’m disappointed to see global tariffs in relation to Steel and Aluminum, but we will take a pragmatic approach,” said British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
“We … We are negotiating an agreement that covers and includes tariffs if we succeed. But we will keep all options on the table.”
‘Bad for business, what’s worse for consumers’
Canada said that from Thursday she would start collecting taxes at 25% to nearly $ 30 billion ($ 20 billion; $ 16 billion) of US products, including steel, computers and sports equipment.
Prime Minister-Added Mark Carney said it was Ready to negotiate a renewed trade agreement with Trump, as long as there is “respect for Canadian sovereignty”.
The EU announced that from April 1, April 1, April 1, it would increase its billing to € 26 billion ($ 28 billion; 22 billion pounds), including boats, bourbon and motorcycles.
EU President Ursula von der Leyen said the answer was intended for “strong but proportional” and added that the EU was “ready to participate in a meaningful dialogue”.
“Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business and worse for consumers,” she said, warning that economic disorder puts jobs in question and send prices higher.
“No one needs it – on both sides, neither in the European Union nor in the United States.”
Trump said he wanted to increase American production of steel and aluminum, but critics say that metal import taxes will increase prices for US consumers and economic recess growth.
The main packaged food manufacturers, including Quaker Oats and Folgers Coffee, asked Trump aim of exemption from tariffs on imports such as cocoa and fruit, according to a letter seen by Reuters.
Pepsico, Conagra and JM Smucker have also requested that the president excludes ingredients that are not available from US sources in a letter sent by a trade group of consumer brands associations.
Coffee, oats, cocoa, spices, tropical steel fruits and cans, used for some food and home goods, are among the imports as unavailable in the country, Reuters reported.
Import taxes are also expected to reduce the demand of steel and aluminum that has not been made in the US – a blow to metal producers elsewhere.
The EU estimated that the latest US tariffs affect about 5% of its total exports to the United States, while the US is a destination by about 90% of Canadian steel exports and aluminum.
The shares in the US were mixed on Wednesday, after two days of sharp fall. The Dow closed 0.2%, while the S&P 500 ended almost 0.5%higher and Nasdaq jumped 1.2%.
In a performance at the White House with Irish Prime Minister, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Trump said he was not planning to give up his trade struggle, saying he was not “satisfied” by EU trade policies.
He cited concerns about the legal punishment he had imposed on Apple, and the rules he claimed to have placed us agricultural products and cars in an unfavorable position.
“They do what they should do for the European Union, but it creates a sick will,” he said.
Repeating his threat to hit European cars with tariffs, he added later: “We will win that financial battle.”
