EU/FOREIGN POLICY/TARIFFS/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “European Union officials unveiled an array of tariffs on Wednesday [3-7-18] that they would place on American-made goods if the United States followed through on President Trump’s plan to impose penalties on imported steel and aluminum, raising the specter of a trade war.
The announcement in Brussels was the latest rebuke to Mr. Trump’s proposed tariffs, which have met with consternation domestically and with threats of retaliation abroad. The president’s top economic adviser, Gary D. Cohn, said on Tuesday that he was resigning, a move widely believed to be linked to the trade plan, which he had lobbied against. Republican leaders, including Paul D. Ryan, the House speaker, have also railed against the tariffs.
Internationally, the plan for the new American tariffs — blanket penalties of 25 percent on imported steel and of 10 percent on aluminum — have drawn concern from allies including Britain and Canada, as well as from rivals like China. The European Union had warned of retaliatory charges last week, and outlined those plans on Wednesday.
Such a move by the United States would ‘put thousands of European jobs in jeopardy, and it has to be met by a firm and proportionate response,’ Cecilia Malmstrom, the European Union commissioner for trade, said at a news conference in Brussels. European officials have been meeting with their counterparts in Washington, urging them to revisit the plans, she added.”
-Milan Schreuer, “E.U. Pledges to Fight Back on Trump Tariffs as Trade War Looms,” The New York Times online, Mar. 7, 2018