Trump, trade and tariffs

Further information

On 31 May 2018, US President Trump decided to impose steel and aluminium trade tariffs on the EU, Canada and Mexico, after failing to reach deals with them to address national security concerns related to the imports. The tariffs came into effect on the 1 June 2018.

The European Union had already notified the World Trade Organization of plans to impose countermeasures and levy duties on $7.1bn worth of U.S. exports in response, with the aim of collecting $1.6bn in tariff revenue. The new duties would start applying in July 2018.US President, Donald Trump, has imposed tariffs on steel and aluminium imports in March 2018, raising fears of a trade war with other countries. He argued that the levies, of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminium, were needed to protect US national security. But many analysts and politicians believed that they were actually meant to protect domestic producers and meet Trump's pre-election promise to return manufacturing jobs to the US.

The European Union was seeking an exemption from the tariffs, which had already been granted, in principle, to Canada and Mexico. If this did not happen, the EU could respond in several ways, including by imposing its own tariffs on US products.

This note offered links to a series of recent commentaries and reports from major international think tanks and research institutes in reaction to President Trump's decision. More reports on international trade could be found in a previous edition of 'What Think Tanks are thinking' published in June 2017.

Compiler: Marcin Grajewski

• Primary Source

ECFR: Commentary, 26.04.18: Economists’ tunnel vision in the current trade conflict: What does Trump really want? http://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_economists_tunnel_vision_in_the_current_trade_conflict_what_does

Spiegel International, 18.05.18: European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström: 'We Won't Allow Ourselves to Be Blackmailed' http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/eu-commissioner-cecilia-malmstroem-on-u-s-trade-war-a-1208532.html

LSE European Institute: EuroppBlog, 12.06.18: Colliding worlds: Donald Trump and the European Union http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2018/06/12/colliding-worlds-donald-trump-and-the-european-union/

EP: EPRS: Briefing: What Think Tanks are thinking, 23.02.18: President Trump's record to date http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2018/614715/EPRS_BRI(2018)614715_EN.pdf

Council of the European Union: General Secretariat: Think Tank Review No.54, February 2018: Donald Trump's first year as 45th US President http://www.europeansources.info/record/donald-trumps-first-year-as-45th-us-president-president-trumps-record-to-date-what-think-tanks-are-thinking/

Chatham House: Expert Comment, 05.06.18: Trump’s Tariffs Presage a World With No Rules https://www.chathamhouse.org/expert/comment/trump-s-tariffs-presage-world-no-rules

European Commission: DG Trade: Policy: Countries and Regions: United States http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/countries/united-states/

---