U.S. to slap steel and aluminum tariffs on European Union

[Calista241]

Source: Axios

Plans for the Trump administration to hit the European Union with steel and aluminum tariffs could be announced as early as Thursday, reports the Wall Street Journal citing people familiar with the matter.

Why it matters: The EU has threatened retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products such as "motorcycles, jeans and bourbon." The report follows Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross' criticism that the European Union isn't negotiating on trade thanks to the United States' steel and aluminum tariffs, citing China as a counterexample.

What to expect: If the tariffs go through, you'll see domestic and imported steel and aluminum prices spike because the EU is a top supplier.

The EU will likely retaliate almost immediately. They’ve already filed what they plan to do — their list of retaliatory measures — at the World Trade Organization (WTO.) The EU’s big public threats are tariffs on Harley Davidsons and Kentucky whiskey (targeting Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell respectively.)

The snowball effect: The U.S. imposing tariffs would likely have knock on effects. Until now, the only country that has directly retaliated against the U.S. on these steel and aluminum tariffs is China. Add in to the mix other countries who have made threats but haven’t retaliated — yet.

Read more: https://www.axios.com/us-to-slap-steel-and-aluminum-tariffs-on-eu-4de37663-93dd-4f8c-b3f8-78ddcb3990cb.html

[Wellstone ruled]

1. Watch for Merkel to finnally lower

the boom on Trump and Wilbur Ross. If you have been following the EU Markets,this appeared to be in the mix as of Monday.

Precision Steel comes form EU countries. Trump just has no clue. With all those Auto Plants in the Red States,good luck with that idea.

[politicaljunkie41910]

2. This was the guy who likes to make deals? No wonder he went bankrupt 5 times. I hope Merkel does

lower the boom on McConnell and Ryan's states. Serves them right. Merkel is the NEW Iron Lady. Margaret Thatcher would have took on Trump and probably took him down since he doesn't know shit from Shinola. Theresa May is doing a great job as well. The only woman Trump can seem to put the fear of God in, is his wife.

[Wellstone ruled]

3. Funny thing happened on the way to the Tarrifff Wars.

Paul Ryan's District took a direct hit with the loss of Harley deciding to move assembly operations out of Kansas,and you just know those Milwaukee area plants are going to downsize darn soon. And their sub-assembly suppliers most likely will be doing major layoffs by late fall.

Boeing is note going to set idlely by either.

[roamer65]

4. They will go after agricultural products as well.

The EU has long wanted to embargo American agricultural products. They view them as detrimental to the well being of their agricultural industry. GMO crops really aggravated the situation.

[jmowreader]

5. If they're going after Paul Ryan, they need to choose a different product

Harley-Davidson's biggest factory is in Pennsylvania.

They'd probably be better off to tariff cheese. Wisconsin is a world leader in cheese.

[mwooldri]

7. I don't think the EU imports much cheese from the USA.

I'd guess that the volume is very very low. More likely cheese is imported from Europe to the USA. I've not recalled seeing much American cheese in UK supermarkets.

[jmowreader]

8. This doesn't list where the cheese is going, but the US exports quite a bit

http://www.worldstopexports.com/cheese-exports-country/

The seven nations that export over $1 billion US worth of cheese are Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Denmark, the US and New Zealand. (I really thought before reading this that the top three would be France, Italy and Denmark. I had NO idea the German cheese industry was that big, and I lived there for many years.)

[demmiblue]

6. U.S. Is Set to Impose Tariffs on Steel From EU, Canada, Mexico

The Trump administration is expected to announce on Thursday that it will impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the European Union, Canada and Mexico, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The decision is coming hours before temporary exemptions were due to elapse at 12:01 a.m. in Washington on Friday. Unless last-minute deals are reached, the move would mark the Trump administration’s most aggressive trade action yet against major trading partners, which had been asking for permanent relief.

Fears of a global trade war are mounting as the Trump administration also considers tariffs on U.S. auto imports and duties on $50 billion in Chinese goods. The International Monetary Fund has warned that a wave of protectionist forces are the biggest risk to the global economic outlook.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-31/u-s-is-poised-to-impose-tariffs-on-eu-canada-mexico-metals?utm_medium=social&cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business&utm_content=business&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic