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 by Staff Writers Washington (AFP) March 2, 2018
President Donald Trump said Friday he plans to impose "reciprocal taxes" on imports to reduce the US trade deficit -- a move sure to ratchet up tensions with Washington's trading partners. "When a country Taxes our products coming in at, say, 50%, and we Tax the same product coming into our country at ZERO, not fair or smart," Trump said on Twitter. "We will soon be starting RECIPROCAL TAXES so that we will charge the same thing as they charge us. $800 Billion Trade Deficit-have no choice!" The comments come one day after Trump announced he will impose steep tariffs on steel and aluminum next week, which already had prompted angry reaction at home and abroad -- and threats of retaliation. But taking the more drastic step of imposing reciprocal import tariffs on all goods and countries would eviscerate the rules-based global trading system. In a tweet earlier Friday, Trump said "trade wars are good, and easy to win." Economists say such steps hurt American workers and industry including the important auto and defense sectors -- key planks in Trump's political base. Rising import prices also would stoke inflation and crimp economic growth. When former president George W. Bush imposed 30 percent tariffs on steel in 2002, one study estimates it cost 200,000 American jobs. Those tariffs were rescinded 18 months later when the US lost a dispute before the World Trade Organization.
Germany urges 'determined' EU response to US steel tariffs Frankfurt Am Main (AFP) March 2, 2018 - German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel on Friday called for a "determined" response from the European Union to US President Donald Trump's decision to impose steep tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. The EU "must respond with determination to US punitive tariffs that threaten thousands of jobs in Europe," Gabriel told newspaper Die Welt, saying there should be "no doubt in Washington" that a response would be forthcoming from Brussels. Nevertheless, the US and the European bloc "should do everything possible to avoid an international trade war," he added. Trump's announcement on Thursday of a 25-percent tariff on steel and 10-percent levy on aluminium -- to be signed off next week -- riled producer countries and sent stock markets tumbling around the world, over fears of escalating tit-for-tat retaliation. The move from Washington was "not at all acceptable," Gabriel said, adding that German and European manufacturers "do not practice unfair competition with dumping prices" and urging President Trump to "rethink his announcement". Gabriel's comments came after European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said on Thursday that the EU would present "World Trade Organisation-compatible countermeasures against the US to rebalance the situation". German industry groups were also critical. The BDI German industry federation "supports the EU in its plans to offer an appropriate response", its president Dieter Kempf said in a statement. However, "there is too much at stake" to risk a trade war, he added. The head of the DIHK German Chambers of Commerce, Martin Wansleben, warned that Trump's move "could jolt the entire world trade system," but called for the EU to work with other nations to offer only a "proportionate" response at the WTO. "Especially the highly internationalised German economy depends on open markets," he pointed out.
China factory expansion slows to 19-month low in February Beijing (AFP) Feb 28, 2018 China's factory expansion slowed again in February as output and export orders dropped due to the Lunar New Year holidays, hitting a 19-month low, official data showed Wednesday. The manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI), a gauge of factory conditions, came in at 50.3 in February, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said, compared to 51.3 in January. Anything above 50 is considered growth while a figure below that points to contraction. The indicator fell short of the 51.1 readi ... read more
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