Donald Trump on Friday defended his plan to slap punitive tariffs on imported aluminum and steel, claiming that any resulting trade war would be good for the United States.
‘When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win,’ the president tweeted.
‘Example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don’t trade anymore-we win big. It’s easy!’
Trump added in a second tweet that ‘[w]e must protect our country and our workers. Our steel industry is in bad shape. IF YOU DON’T HAVE STEEL, YOU DON’T HAVE A COUNTRY!’
While some of America’s trade imbalances could inch closer to parity if nations like China and Russia export less to the U.S., the resulting shortage of raw materials would likely have a negative impact on consumers’ checkbooks.
Donald Trump will sign off on new tariffs – 25 per cent on steel imports and 10 per cent on aluminum – next week, covering every country that sends those metals to the U.S.
The president defended his plan against fears of a global trade war, saying it would be ‘good’ for the U.S. and ‘easy to win’
MillerCoors and Toyota predicted on Thursday that producing beer cans and automobiles will become more expensive – meaning price hikes.
‘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 in a tweet.
‘American workers and American consumers will suffer as a result of this misguided tariff.’
Trump said Thursday that he will sign off on the new tariffs – 25 per cent on steel imports and 10 per cent on aluminum – next week, covering every country that sends those metals to the U.S.
The stock market lost 420 points as investors reacted to the possibility of an economic slowdown in the wake of consumer price increases.
Benchmark indexes in Frankfurt and Paris shed roughly 2 per cent in early Friday trading. Stocks in London dropped by 1 per cent.
The Nikkei index in Tokyo was down 2.5 per cent in Tokyo, and Hong Kong stocks lost 1.5 per cent of their value.
Employees walk through the aluminum smelting room at the China Hongqiao Group Ltd. aluminum smelting facility in Zouping, China. The company is China’s largest private aluminum maker
Large diameter steel pipes sit on the production line before welding at the Izhora Pipe Mill (IZT), operated by Severstal PJSC, in the Kolpino district of Saint Petersburg, Russia
‘Trump’s announcement not only increases the specter of a global trade war but also neatly highlights the fracturing of the global compact which has been in place over recent decades,’ Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at currency trading platform AxiTrader, said in a note to clients.
‘You’ll have protection for a long time in a while,’ Trump told a gathering of industry leaders.
‘You’ll have to regrow your industries. That’s all I’m asking.’
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters Friday morning at the White House that the tariffs are something Trump has ‘wanted to do for awhile. Never say never, but I think he’s pretty committed to moving this forward.’
Sanders said she doesn’t expect the tariff percentages to change as details are hammered out, and that Trump wasn’t spooked by the markets’ reactions.
‘The president’s still focused on long-term economic fundamentals. He is incredibly focused on the American worker. It’s something that we have to have and something we need to have,’ she said.
Toyota warned Thursday that tariffs on imported steel will mean price hikes on new cars manufactured in the U.S.
Trump argued Thursday for ‘free, fair and SMART TRADE’ before he announced his tariffs
In Brussels, the European Commission called the step a blatant intervention that amounted to protectionism.
However, while promising to act ‘firmly,’ it made no mention of retaliation – only speaking of counter-measures that conform to World Trade Organization rules.
EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom told the Financial Times that Europe would have no choice but to respond to U.S. tariffs.
‘We risk seeing a dangerous domino effect from this,’ she said.
Japan’s Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko protested to reporters in Tokyo that ‘steel and aluminum imports from Japan, which is an ally, do not affect U.S. national security at all.’
Wen Xianjun, vice chairman of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, said in a statement that Trump is seeking to ‘overturn the international trade order.’
‘Other countries, including China, will take relevant retaliatory measures,’ Wen said.
China Iron and Steel Association Vice Chairman Li Xinchuang called Trump’s move ‘stupid.’
Canada, the biggest foreign supplier of steel to the U.S., said the decision was unacceptable.