BUSINESS/ECONOMY/NATIONAL SECURITY/TARIFFS/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WTO: “President Donald Trump upped the ante in a brewing trade conflict stirred up by his announcement of steel and aluminum tariffs, saying the U.S. would impose tariffs on European car exports if the bloc follows through with retaliation against his metals duties. … The exchange began Thursday after Mr. Trump said his administration would enact in coming days a law to impose 25% tariffs on imported steel, with 10% targeting imported aluminum, on national-security grounds. Some economists are worried tariffs applied unilaterally rather than through the World Trade Organization would generate a series of reprisals that could end in a trade war. … Promising to ‘defend European jobs,’ European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said ‘we must…show that we also take measures.’ He added: ‘I don’t like to use the word *trade war,* but I can’t say how this wouldn’t be warlike behavior.'”
-William Mauldin and Rebecca Ballhaus, “Trump Threatens to Impose Tariffs on European Cars: Trade tensions heat up as president vows to penalize EU if it retaliates against U.S. metals duties,” The Wall Street Journal online, Mar. 3, 2018 3:55pm