President Donald Trump, in a Thursday social media post, vowed a new escalation in his trade war if the EU goes forward with the planned 50% tariff on American whiskey.
The European Union responded within hours to the Trump administration’s increase in tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25%.
While President Trump’s tariffs could help steel and aluminum plants in the United States, they could raise prices for the manufacturers that use the metals as raw materials.
The U.S. stock market promptly fell following his social media post, triggering more concerns after a brutal selloff on Monday.
For an industry that has to plan well into the future, based on aging its whiskey products, angst is widespread in Kentucky, which produces 95% of the world’s bourbon supply.
The Chinese tariffs, announced last week, were a response to Trump’s decision to double the levy on Chinese imports to 20% on March 4.
Ontario provides electricity to Minnesota, New York and Michigan. Quebec is also considering taking similar measures with electricity exports to the U.S.
Also Thursday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau indicated that he expects his country will be in a trade war with the United States for the foreseeable future.
Nearly 80% of the toys sold in the U.S. are sourced from China, according to The Toy Association, a national industry group.
Farmers and meat producers across the U.S. expect the new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China and the retaliatory action from those countries to hurt their bottom lines if they stay in place a while.
The president may have been referencing earlier reports that the Japanese automaker was planning to move some production from Mexico to Indiana in response to impending tariffs.
The administration is grappling with the fallout of tariffs beloved by President Donald Trump that could create serious blowback for his political mandate to lower prices.
The tariffs will apply to imports of key U.S. farm products, including chicken, pork, soy and beef.
President Trump indicated that he wants to even the trade imbalance with both countries and push more factories to relocate in the United States.
Trump indicated Wednesday that European countries would also face a 25% tariff as part of his reciprocal tariffs. He also wants separate tariffs on autos, computer chips and pharmaceutical drugs that would be levied in addition to the reciprocal tariffs.
At his confirmation hearing last month, Lutnick dismissed as “nonsense” the idea that tariffs contribute to inflation.
President Donald Trump’s plan increases U.S. tariffs to match the tax rates that other countries charge on imports, possibly triggering a broader economic confrontation with allies and rivals alike.
President Donald Trump is taking additional action to upset the world trade system, with plans to sign an order as soon as Wednesday that would require that U.S. tariffs on imports match the tax rates charged by other countries.
While the leaders of Canada and Mexico managed to strike political deals to delay the implementation of the tariffs Trump had slapped on their products, China has not struck such a deal.
President Trump also reaffirmed that he would announce “reciprocal tariffs”—meaning that the U.S. would impose import duties on products in cases where another country has levied duties on U.S. goods.
