U.S. TARIFFS CONDEMNED WORLDWIDE
Trump's announcement of the U.S. tariff, which will take effect 15 days after he formally unveiled them Thursday, has sparked fears of a new trade war and has triggered global dissent.
"Nobody can win this kind of race," German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters Friday, adding that Germany would support the EU if it ultimately decided to adopt retaliatory measures, but called for diplomatic talks to resolve the trade conflict as a first resort.
Marina Whitman, professor emerita of business administration and public policy at the University of Michigan, said Trump's tariffs "are likely to raise prices of consumer goods containing aluminum or steel and, more important, will raise them for manufacturers whose products use aluminum and steel, making them less competitive."
"A lot more people are employed in the U.S. in companies using aluminum and/or steel in their products than in those making them," she said. Moreover, "it is a major step toward undermining the international rule of law in trade, which the U.S. took the lead in creating ever since WWII."
A recent study by Trade Partnership, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm, also estimated that Trump's new tariff on steel and aluminum would result in a net loss of 146,000 U.S. jobs after accounting for positive impacts on U.S. steel and aluminum producers.
Commenting on the U.S. policy, Canadian experts said it is a clear bargaining tool for Trump to pressure Canada in the ongoing North American Tree Trade Agreement (NAFTA) talks.
"Because other countries are subjected to these tariffs, it should actually increase demand for steel and aluminum from Canada," said James Brander, a trade expert at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.
"Trump is using this (as) a tactic to try to put more pressure on Canada and Mexico to go along with some of the things the U.S. wants in the NAFTA negotiations," he added, "If it doesn't work, they will be included in the tariffs."
