Countries facing trade war with US

World
Europe

As the US sticks to trade protectionism with rising tariff, more and more countries, including emerging nations as well as allies of the US, are getting involved in the trade war with retaliatory measures.

As a major target of Trump’s trade deficit reduction plan, China has been facing an escalating trade tension with the US. After China announced its retaliatory tariffs on June 15 in response to Trump’s 25 percent tariff raise against 50 billion US dollars in Chinese imports, the US claimed a 10 percent levy on another 200 billion US dollars Chinese imports.

Russia, which also hit by the US steel and aluminum tariffs, vowed on June 19 to slap retaliatory tariffs on US imports and informed the WTO of its plan.

Global trade is threatened not only by the US tariffs on steel and aluminum announced in March. Trump said in May to abandon the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which means new sanctions on the country and punitive measures for those who trade with it, leading to some global companies preparing to leave Iran.

Allies turn to retaliatory measures

Traditional allies of the US are not excluded from the expanding trade conflicts and they are turning a dispute over metals into a broader conflict, touching many sectors.

From June 22, The European Union (EU) slapped tariffs on iconic US products including bourbon, jeans, and motorcycle in a tit-for-tat response to Trump’s carrying out the threat on June 1 to impose 25 percent tariffs on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum imports from the EU.

Canada and Mexico, both US neighbors and members of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), also hit back against the US after not being spared from the US tariff on steel and aluminum.

As the largest trading partner of the US, Canada proposed tariffs of up to 25 percent on nearly 13 billion US dollars on a wide range of US imports, including steel and aluminum, ballpoint pens and food items, set to take effect on July 1.

Mexico, second biggest trading partner of the US, announced on June 5 tariffs on about three billion US dollars US agricultural products, including pork, cheese, apples, bourbon, and potatoes.

India, one of the major allies of the US in Asia, also joined the team to announce retaliation. On June 16, India submitted a revised list to the WTO to propose a 50 percent customs duty raise on 30 US products, including motorcycles, certain iron and steel goods, boric acid and lentils and the increase would come into effect on August 4.

Japan, which has not been exempted by the US from tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, expressed reservations and said on Monday that retaliatory action will always be an option.

(With inputs from AFP)