The world’s largest economies stood at the precipice of all-out trade war as major US allies announced retaliation against stinging steel and aluminum tariffs that took effect on Friday.
President Donald Trump’s decision Thursday not to extend exemptions for Canada and the European Union — the largest sources of foreign aluminum and steel respectively for the US — upended the agenda for talks among Group of Seven foreign ministers underway in Canada.
As Brussels, Ottawa and Mexico City vowed to impose counter-tariffs on billions in US goods, France said it would not negotiate while the tariffs were in effect, lawmakers in Trump’s Republican Party denounced the move as a threat to prosperity and global stock markets sank.
In a call late Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron told Trump the tariffs were “illegal” and said Europe would respond in a “firm and proportionate manner.”
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Source: Seychelles News Agency
