World Trade Organisation warns Trump risks trade war over tariffs

US President Donald Trump has struck a defiant tone, saying trade wars are good and easy to win, after his plan to put tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium triggered global criticism and a slide in world stock markets.

The S&P 500 ended another turbulent week on an upbeat note Friday but major indexes posted their worst week of losses since early February as Trump’s threat to impose import tariffs on steel and aluminum rattled investors.

“With one stroke of the pen, much of the promised benefit of tax reform and other Administration initiatives aimed at reviving manufacturing and protecting national security could be undercut”, John Bozzella, president of the Association of Global Automakers, said in a statement.

Trump said on Thursday the United States would apply duties of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum to protect domestic producers.

President Donald Trump has announced the U.

The controversial move is likely to invite retaliatory measures from foreign countries, raising the specter of a trade war between the USA and several other steel-producing countries. A tariff would hurt Canadian producers in two ways: by raising costs for buyers in the US while also potentially diverting other steel production to flood Canada’s own market, he said.

Economists say there’s an even bigger risk – how other countries will react to the tariffs.

The steel and aluminum tariffs are ostensibly aimed at punishing China, which has been driving down prices for those commodities by producing far more metal than the world can use.

The US imports steel from more than 100 nations and brings in four times more steel from overseas than it exports.

The price increases did make it economical for some steel producers to revive shuttered mills, the Journal reported, though some of the firms kept losing money.

“Everyone realizes a trade war doesn’t do anyone any good, so if it’s scaled down considerably, maybe the other countries condemn it but don’t necessarily do anything about it”, Kinahan said.

Safeguard measures, last deployed by Europe in 2002 after then US President George W. Bush imposed steel import duties, would be created to guard against steel and aluminium being diverted to Europe from elsewhere if US tariffs come in.

European Union trade chiefs are reportedly considering slapping 25% tariffs on around $3.5bn (£2.5bn) of imports from the US.

Trump said trade wars are good and easy to win, but Keith said no one is going to win.

By taking on Trump’s remarks directly, Azevedo is signaling a tougher stance toward the US leader.

The epicentre of Canada’s steel industry is Hamilton, Ont., and the surrounding region, where at least half of the country’s steel exports originate, said chamber of commerce president Keanin Loomis.

London-based Rio Tinto, which ships more than 1.4 million metric tons of aluminum to the U.S. annually from Canada, said it will continue to lobby Washington for an exemption given the highly integrated Canada-U.S. market for autos and other manufactured goods.

Europe, they said, was likely to respond quickly with safeguard measures. Sasse noted that he would expect Democratic Party lawmakers to set trade tariffs, not Republicans.

It takes time to ramp up steel production, meaning that in the short term American consumers bear the costs of paying the tariffs, Volpe said.