Major trade partners swiftly hit back at US President Donald Trump’s increased tariffs on aluminum and steel imports, imposing stiff new taxes on US products from textiles and water heaters to beef and bourbon.
Canada, the largest supplier of steel and aluminum to the US, on Wednesday said that it would place 25 percent reciprocal tariffs on steel products and also raise taxes on a host of items: tools, computers and servers, display monitors, sports equipment and cast-iron products.
Across the Atlantic, the EU said it would raise tariffs on US beef, poultry, bourbon, motorcycles, peanut butter and jeans.
Photo: Bloomberg
Combined, the new tariffs would cost companies billions of dollars, and further escalate the uncertainty in two of the world’s major trade partnerships. Companies would either take the losses and earn fewer profits, or more likely pass costs along to consumers in the form of higher prices.
Prices would go up, in Europe and the US, and jobs are at stake, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
“We deeply regret this measure. Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and even worse for consumers,” Von der Leyen said.
The EU duties aim for pressure points in the US while minimizing additional damage to Europe.
EU officials have made clear that the tariffs — taxes on imports — are aimed at products made in Republican Party-held states, such as beef and poultry from Kansas and Nebraska, and wood products from Alabama and Georgia.
The tariffs would also hit blue states such as Illinois, the No. 1 US producer of soybeans, which are also on the list.
Spirits producers have become collateral damage in the dispute over steel and aluminum.
The EU move “is deeply disappointing and will severely undercut the successful efforts to rebuild US spirits exports in EU countries,” Distilled Spirits Council president Chris Swonger said.
The EU is a major destination for US whiskey, with exports surging 60 percent in the past three years after an earlier set of tariffs was suspended.
Incoming Canadian prime minister Mark Carney on Wednesday said he is ready to meet with Trump if he shows “respect for Canadian sovereignty” and is willing to take “a common approach, a much more comprehensive approach for trade.”
Carney, who is to be sworn in in the coming days, said workers in both countries would be better off when “the greatest economic and security partnership in the world is renewed, relaunched. That is possible.”
Trump slapped similar tariffs on EU steel and aluminum during his first term in office, which enraged European and other allies.
The EU also imposed countermeasures in retaliation at the time, raising tariffs on US-made motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans, among other items.
This time, the EU action would involve two steps. First on April 1, the commission would reimpose taxes that were in effect from 2018 and 2020, but which were suspended during former US president Joe Biden’s administration. Then on April 13 come the additional duties targeting 18 billion euros (US$19.6 billion) in US exports to the bloc.
EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic traveled to Washington last month in an effort to head off the tariffs, meeting with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and other top trade officials.
He said on Wednesday that it became clear during the trip “that the EU is not the problem.”
“I argued to avoid the unnecessary burden of measures and countermeasures, but you need a partner for that. You need both hands to clap,” Sefcovic told reporters at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.
Canada is imposing 25 percent reciprocal tariffs on steel products worth C$12.6 billion (US$8.8 billion) and aluminum products worth C$3 billion as well as additional imported US goods worth C$14.2 billion for a total of C$29.8 billion.
The list of additional products affected by counter-tariffs includes tools, computers and servers, display monitors, water heaters, sport equipment and cast-iron products.
These tariffs are in addition to Canada’s 25 percent counter tariffs on C$30 billion worth of imports from the US that were put in place on Tuesday last week in response to other Trump tariffs that he has delayed by a month.
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
RSS