Trump’s tariff on metal exports: India doesn’t expect an immediate hit

For a guy who is supposed to know the art of the deal, U.S. President Donald Trump continually displays a troubling ignorance of global trade.

“This is going to scare markets, but it’s not going to scare the Chinese government”, Posen said.

He said the European Union will also stand ready to protect Europe’s embattled steel market in case of a surge of imports as a result of the United States tariffs.

The wide-ranging actions, if imposed, would eviscerate the rules-based global trading system the U.S. helped to build, and drastically raise the chances of a trade war.

However, Mr Trump had doubled down on his moves, saying in a tweet that trade wars are good and easy to win. “And it adds to brewing disputes they have in competition and tax policy“, he added. “$800 Billion Trade Deficit-have no choice!” This time, he confirmed that his office will approve an increased tariff of 25 percent on all types of imported steel and a 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum products. Trump said in another tweet Friday.

He said on the company’s earnings call last week that he was hopeful Canada would be exempt from the tariffs.

Shanghai’s main stock index fell 0.6% Friday.

White House officials have even discussed launching what’s known as a “301 investigation” into German automakers, a step that could preclude levying tariffs or other restrictions, a person familiar with discussions said.

“We buy as much domestic can sheet aluminum as is available, however, there simply isn’t enough supply to satisfy the demands of American beverage makers like us”, MillerCoors said.

Many economists have said that instead of increasing employment, price increases for consumers of steel and aluminium such as the auto and oil industries would destroy more United States jobs than they create.

Mr Trump has criticised the “big trade imbalance,” and hopes to address it with higher tariffs.

A real expert on national security, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, has been decidedly cool on Ross’ protectionist project and said so in a memorandum to the commerce secretary, albeit between the lines.

Despite Trump’s reaction, European Commission vice president Jyrki Katainen told AFP “there is a little window of opportunity still open” and that Europe was not a danger to the US.

President Trump is expected to formally sign his tariff decision next week.

In addition, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau described tariffs as “absolutely unacceptable” and hinted that any tariff would be met with strong resistance and potentially retaliatory action.

Helping a few, hurting many?

On Friday, Trump wrote in another Twitter post that “trade wars are good, and easy to win”. Other nations imposed stiff tariffs in return, hurting USA exports.

“We must show that we can also take measures”. More than 1,000 people are employed by the steel industry in Regina.

In 2002, then-President George W. Bush imposed steel tariffs that caused an estimated 200,000 in job losses and cost almost $4 billion in lost wages.