Commission to adopt commercial shield to Trump’s steel tariffs

L’Echos says the measures will focus on three aspects: safeguard measures in case India and China flood Europe with steel and aluminium, a complaint at the WTO, and import tariffs on US products. De Tijd says the scope of the European countermeasures would amount to €2.8 billion, but Europe will only decide on the real scope once US President Trump’s moves become clear.

On NDR, Ralph Sina comments that President Juncker’s approach is the only correct one. “The EU must show a clear edge on punitive tariffs against the US,” says a Research Associate in Die Tageszeitung. If not, US President Trump could interpret this as a carte blanche and enforce further protectionist measures.

Conversely, the Financial Times quotes trade experts warning that EU plans to target specific US products in response to US proposed tariffs on aluminium and steel risk breaking WTO rules. Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Jeremy Warner warns that a fully-blown trade war with the US would be the “kiss of death” for the EU because growing international trade is vital to the current phase of renewed economic growth in the euro area. In a guest commentary in Handelsblatt, a professor at TU Dortmund opposes President Juncker’s idea to levy import duties on other products in return and calls for a lawsuit at the WTO to avert a possible trade war.

In an article in La Repubblica, Paolo Griseri reports that FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne said he understood “European pride” but “would avoid starting a trade war.” Meanwhile, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) has warned that both the EU and US would be harmed if President Trump followed through with threats to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium, forbes.com reports. In De Ochtend, EU Ambassador to the WTO Marc Vanheukelen states that President Trump’s reason for his announced measures makes little sense.

In its editorial, Le Monde writes that, by announcing steel and aluminium tariffs, President Trump will start quarrels with allies and weaken his country’s economy. In his column for Le Monde, Arnaud Leparmentier writes that President Trump might have underestimated his opponents, as President Juncker is considering taxes on Harley-Davidsons and bourbon, and China is planning counter-measures on sorghum imports. However, Mr Leparmentier believes the responses remain symbolic as US trade partners fear a protectionist spiral. De Standaard also notes that European countermeasures will affect a little over 1% of the US exports to the EU.