The United States of America has been imposing punitive tariffs on steel and aluminium imports since the beginning of June.
The European industry is annoyed by the so-called ‘trade war’ and wants a prompt solution from politicians. The EU wants to respond to US President Trump with appropriate countermeasures – however, he will not be deterred.
The US government has been charging ten per cent customs duty on aluminium exports and as much as 25 per cent on steel since 01 July. Goods worth about 2.8 billion dollars (2.4 billion euros) will have to be imported more expensively into the USA in the future. US companies are switching to local industries due to more expensive imports instead of ordering products from the western world. Trump’s policy may be fruitful for the United States of America for the time being, but experts fear long-term economic deficits due to its isolation from the rest of the world.