US allies hit back as Trump revokes steel tariff reprieve

Bloomberg

America’s closest allies plan to slap billions of dollars in tit-for-tat tariffs on US goods after the Trump administration announced it’s imposing steel and aluminum duties on them.
The reaction was swift after Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced the US will levy new metals duties on imports from the European Union, Mexico and Canada on national security grounds, ending their temporary exemptions.
The EU said it would take immediate steps to retaliate, while Mexico vowed to impose duties on everything from US flat steel to cheese. Canada’s government announced it will impose tariffs on as much as C$16.6 billion ($12.8 billion) of US steel, aluminum and other products from July 1.
In public statements in capitals from Ottawa and Brussels to Washington and Mexico City, politicians expressed their frustration and puzzlement at the US move.
House Speaker Paul Ryan attacked the decision in a statement, saying “today’s action targets America’s allies when we should be working with them to address the unfair trading practices of countries like China.”

AN AFFRONT
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the tariffs are an affront to the “long-standing security partnership” and to the Canadian and American soldiers who have fought and died alongside one another.
“We have to believe that at some point common sense will prevail, but we see no sign of that in this action today by the US administration,” Trudeau said at a press conference.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, speaking in Brussels, characterized it as “a bad day for world trade,” adding “it’s totally unacceptable that a country is imposing unilateral measures when it comes to world trade.” Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said President Donald Trump “shot himself in the foot” with the tariffs.
Worries are mounting about the prospect of a trade war as the Trump administration also considers tariffs on US auto imports — which could hit top suppliers from Mexico, Canada, Japan and Germany — and plans to levy duties on $50 billion in Chinese goods.
The EU and Japan issued a joint statement condemning the metals tariffs and saying the possible duties on cars “would cause serious turmoil in the global market and could lead to the demise of the multilateral trading system based on WTO rules,” referring to the World Trade Organization.
The rising trade tensions have come up at the meeting of Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank governors in Canada. Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda warned that the US would also feel the effects of its actions.
“Of course protectionism is undesirable,” Kuroda told reporters in Canada. “If you take protectionist measures, of course you’ll face things like retaliatory tariffs according to WTO rules, so countries that impose protectionist measures are affected by the measures they take.”
Growing trade tensions have clouded a benign outlook for the global economy, which is on track to grow at its fastest pace since 2011 this year and next, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Ross said there wasn’t enough progress in discussions with the EU over trade concessions and Canada and Mexico on rewriting the North American Free Trade Agreement to give them permanent exemptions from the metals tariffs. The EU, Canada and Mexico together account for about 40 percent of US steel imports.