March 12 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on steel and aluminum imports went into effect Wednesday, attracting retaliatory measures from Europe.
Trump imposed a 25% duty on the two key industrial metals via tariffs and the elimination of exemptions. The president signed proclamations to increase the duties in February, with the White House arguing he was “taking action to protect America’s critical steel and aluminum.”
The move, which was widely expected to ignite a trade war between allies, prompted Europe on Wednesday to announce countermeasures affecting about $28 billion in U.S. goods.
“Tariffs are taxes,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday in a statement. “They are bad for business, and even worse for consumers. These tariffs are disrupting supply chains. They bring uncertainty for the economy. Jobs are at stake. Prices will go up in Europe and in the United States.”
The EU countermeasures come in the form of allowing previous tariff exemptions to expire on April 1 and a new package of additional tariffs to be considered by lawmakers before adoption.
Von der Leyen emphasized that the countermeasures were “proportionate” as they were targeting about $28 billion in U.S. goods in response to Washington’s tariffs affecting $26 billion in European products.
She said they were open to negotiating.
Trump has instigated a trade war with the EU before.
In 2018, during his first term, Trump imposed a 25% tariff on European steel and a 10% tariff on aluminum as part of his America First protectionist trade policies. Additional tariffs were imposed in January 2020 by Trump, who was then the outgoing president.
However, in 2021, the EU and the United States, under then-President Joe Biden, came to an agreement that saw the tariffs suspended.
The EU said Wednesday that it will allow those suspensions to elapse.
“This is a difficult day for trans-Atlantic trade and plunges businesses, in both the U.S. and U.K., into a new age of uncertainty,” the British Chambers of Commerce said in a statement on Wednesday. Britain is not part of the EU.
“Both sides will now be facing up to negotiations on how the burden of these new tariffs will affect businesses in both countries.”
Meanwhile, in the United States, American steel industry groups are expressing strong support for Trump’s tariffs.
In a letter to the president on Tuesday, five steel industry groups said they “welcome and applaud” his actions, stating that foreign government subsidies and other policies have led to an overproduction of foreign market steel, which has threatened their profession.
“We look forward to continuing to work with you and your administration to ensure the health and competitiveness of the American steel industry, which serves as the backbone of the entire manufacturing sector,” the organizations said.
