ANGELA MERKEL/EU/TARIFFS/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “German Chancellor Angela Merkel is traveling to Washington for a high-stakes meeting with President Donald Trump on Friday [4-27-18], in a last-ditch effort to avoid the biggest trade conflict in years between the U.S. and the European Union. European officials expect the White House to make good on its threat to impose higher tariffs on steel and aluminum from EU countries, including France, Germany and the U.K. That would trigger retaliatory tariffs on a list of American products including motorcycles, bluejeans and bourbon whiskey, EU officials say. High on the agenda for the meeting between Mr. Trump and Ms. Merkel are contentious trade issues as well as Mr. Trump’s threat to withdraw the U.S. from a deal with Iran that curtails Tehran’s nuclear ambitions in exchange for eased sanctions. The EU helped negotiate the accord and is a stalwart defender of the agreement…The trans-Atlantic tension began in early March when Mr. Trump announced global tariffs on steel and aluminum exports. Some economies, including the EU, were given temporary exemptions that are set to expire Monday [4-30-18] night.”
–Bojan Pancevski, William Mauldin and Emre Peker, “Last-Ditch Effort to Dodge Trade Fight as Merkel Visits U.S., The Wall Street Journal, April 26, 2018 6:00 pm