Mexico, Canada and the European Union yesterday condemned US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports next month, a move that has fanned fears of a trade war.
Trump signed proclamations late on Monday raising the US tariff rate on aluminium to 25 per cent from his previous 10pc rate and eliminating country exceptions and quota deals as well as hundreds of thousands of product-specific tariff exclusions for both metals.
The measures, due to take effect on March 12, will apply to millions of tonnes of steel and aluminium imports from Canada, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and other countries that had been entering the US duty free under the carve-outs.
Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard called the tariff decision ‘not justified’ and ‘unfair’. He did not say if Mexico planned reciprocal tariffs on steel or aluminum it imports from the United States.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the tariffs were ‘unacceptable’. Canada’s response, if needed, would be firm and clear, he said at an artificial intelligence summit in Paris.
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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen joined the condemnation, saying the 27-nation bloc would take ‘firm and proportionate countermeasures’. US Vice President JD Vance said he would discuss trade and economic issues with Von der Leyen at the AI summit.
The move will simplify tariffs on the metals, Trump told reporters. “It’s 25pc without exceptions or exemptions,” he said. “That’s all countries, no matter where it comes from, all countries.”
Trump said on Monday he would announce reciprocal tariffs over the next two days on all countries that impose duties on US goods, and said he was also looking at tariffs on cars, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.
Asked about threats of retaliation by other countries against his new tariffs, Trump said, “I don’t mind.”
In figures likely to further irk Trump, Germany’s trade surplus with the US reached a record level last year of 70 billion euros ($72.3bn), according to data from the German statistics office.
European Commission head Von der Leyen said she deeply regretted the US decision, adding that tariffs were taxes that were bad for business and worse for consumers. EU steel exports to the US have averaged about $3.1bn a year over the past decade.
“Unjustified tariffs on the EU will not go unanswered – they will trigger firm and proportionate countermeasures,” she said in a statement.
One option for the EU would be to reactivate the tariffs it imposed in 2018 that were suspended under a truce agreed between Von der Leyen and then-US president Joe Biden.
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