US V EU ‘trade war’: Thousands of steel jobs in Europe threatened over Trump’s new tariffs

The European steel association Eurofer in Brussels today warned the US President’s new import tariffs were “harmful and counterproductive” and could lead to the loss of tens of thousands of jobs in Europe.

President Trump set import tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminium last night with an exemption for Canada and Mexico and the possibility of excluding other allies.

Experts fear the move could spark a trade war between the European Union and the US after EU chiefs threatened to react firmly with WTO-compatible countermeasures against the US.

A Eurofer spokesman also warned that the US’s punitive tariffs not only make market access more difficult for European steel but could flood Europe with imports from other nations unable to get into the US market, pushing prices down and endangering EU jobs.

The spokesman sharply criticised the imposition of punitive tariffs by the US and said European producers would suffer “significantly from the loss of one of their most important export markets”.

Eurofer director-general Axel Eggert said: “The loss of US exports, along with the massive increase in EU imports, could cost tens of thousands of jobs in the EU steel industry and related sectors.

“Ironically, estimates also show that the US could overall also suffer job losses as a result of the measures.”

Mr Eggert then demanded EU instate protective measures for the industry, adding: “We can not stand by and watch the US light a match under the global trading system.”

He also praised the EU Commission earlier announcement that it will respond immediately.

The Eurofer director-general’s remarks came as EU warned it would take matters into its own hands if Mr Trump did not include it as an ally and the bloc from the import tariff list.

EU Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, who coordinates policy for the world’s biggest trading bloc, said she shared USA concerns about overcapacity in the steel sector but did not believe in tariffs as a way to solve the problem.

“Europe is certainly not a threat to American internal security so we expect to be excluded,” Malmstrom told reporters before speaking at a conference in Brussels.

Asked at the conference whether she was ready to react if the 28-country EU was included in the US tariffs, Ms Malmstrom said she stood ready to go to the WTO, the international trade arbiter, to impose the bloc’s own safeguards within 90 days.

She added: ”We have been very clear that (the U.S. decision) is not in compliance with the WTO, so we will go to the WTO, possibly with some other friends. We will have to protect our industry with rebalancing measures, safeguards.”

Additional reporting by Monika Pallenberg.