Donald Trumo is putting “America first” by helping to rebuild the country’s flailing steel and aluminium industries via a string of controversial protectionist measures.
But Americans will be the biggest losers if Mr Trump starts a trade war with the United States’ biggest trading partners, Frans Timmermans, the European Commission’s deputy head, warned on Tuesday.
Mr Timmermans said: “The first losers will be the Americans. But once you enter into a trade war, you soon realise that there are losers everywhere.”
Mr Trump sparked global outcry last week after he announced that he planned to impose a 25 percent tariff on imports of steel and a 10 per cent tariff on imports of aluminium to protect US producers.
The US President, who has repeatedly promised to “make America great again”, said: “We’re going to build our steel industry back and our aluminium industry back.”
Mr Timmermans said growing US protectionism would put a dent in the global economy.
He said: “There is no protection in protectionism. Protectionism comes at a high cost – for everyone. If a trading partner introduces protectionist measures, the European Commission has no choice but to protect its own industry.
“It is our duty, and we will do so with force, with speed and within World Trade Organisation rules.”
Mr Timmermans added the EU had a message for the US: “The message we are sending Washington is this: don’t do this, because a trade war will hurt everyone. But if you do start a trade war, we will react.”
The EU official added any retaliatory measures taken by Brussels would be “proportionate” and in line with the tariffs imposed by the US on EU imports.
He said: “Everything will depend on the measures announced by the Americans,” he said, before mentioning a “possible” increase in tariffs on American goods sold across Europe.
“But we must do everything within our power to stop this trade war from happening.”
Mr Trump believes the tariffs – which will apply to all countries – will safeguard American jobs, but many economists and trade experts say that they will destroy more jobs than they save.