The war over steel: Trump tips global trade into new turmoil
by Phillip Inman from on (#3HV01)
The EU does not want the president's tariffs to create a spiral of retaliation. But Europe is a target - and a battle looks inevitable
Blast furnace B will fire up this summer in Granite City, Illinois, giving up to 500 steel workers a job and offering President Donald Trump a fitting emblem for his campaign to put America first. Mothballed for several years by US Steel, the blast furnace sits next to the Missouri river, north of St Louis, where it will smelt iron made newly competitive by Trump's decision to slap a 25% tariff on steel imports and 10% on aluminium, including from the UK and Europe.
Within hours of Trump first propounding his protectionist move in a tweet, the European commission hit back with the threat of its own measures: extra tariffs on everything from orange juice to Harley-Davidson motorbikes.
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