New tariffs announced on Wednesday by US President Donald Trump provoked dismay, threats of countermeasures and calls for further talks on trade rules.
However, responses were measured, highlighting a lack of appetite among key trading partners of the US for an outright trade war with the world’s biggest economy.
Trump said that the import taxes, ranging from 10 percent to 49 percent, would do to US trading partners what they have long done to the US.
Photo: Reuters
He said that they would draw factories and jobs to the US.
US “taxpayers have been ripped off for more than 50 years, but it is not going to happen anymore,” he said.
Trump’s announcement of a new 20 percent tariff on the EU drew a rebuke from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who said it was a “major blow to the world economy.”
“The consequences will be dire for millions of people around the globe,” Von der Leyen said.
Groceries, transport and medicines will cost more, “and this is hurting, in particular, the most vulnerable citizens,” she said while visiting Uzbekistan.
Von der Leyen acknowledged that the world trading system has “serious deficiencies” and said the EU was ready to negotiate with the US, but was also prepared to respond with countermeasures.
British Prime Minister Kier Starmer said that the British government would react with “cool and calm heads.”
“Clearly, there will be an economic impact,” Starmer said, telling business leaders in London that he hopes to get the tariffs lifted with a trade deal with Washington.
“Nobody wins in a trade war, that is not in our national interest,” he said.
Japan plans to closely analyze the US tariffs and their impact, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said, while refraining from talk of retaliation.
However, the moves would have a big effect on relations with the US, Hayashi added.
Brazil, hit with a 10 percent tariff, said that it was considering appealing to the WTO.
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