Trump's tariffs threaten global prosperity, warns Angela Merkel

US levies on European and Chinese goods may also break WTO rules, says German leader

The war of words over Donald Trump's threat to impose wide-ranging tariffs on imports from China and the European Union has intensified after the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said the levies threatened the incomes of workers across the world.

On Friday, Merkel described possible US tariffs on imported cars as a breach of World Trade Organization rules and "a real threat to the prosperity of many in the world" as Trump went on US television to say that he was ready to expand his roster of tariffs on Beijing to $500bn, covering almost every product imported to the US from China.

....The United States should not be penalized because we are doing so well. Tightening now hurts all that we have done. The U.S. should be allowed to recapture what was lost due to illegal currency manipulation and BAD Trade Deals. Debt coming due & we are raising rates - Really?