President Trump’s trade war with Canada, Mexico, China, and more recently the European Union, continues to gather momentum. So, herewith the current position.
Steel and Aluminium – The US has just applied a new 25% tariff on steel and aluminium from countries around the world from March 12th. The levy has incited retaliatory measures from the EU and Canada.
European Union – Trump has continuously commented that tariffs will be incoming for the EU, but nothing specific has been implemented against the trade bloc yet. However, the EU said, in response to the steel and aluminium tariff, it is putting up duty rates on £22bn worth of US goods from April 1st. Trump has indicated that the US will be responding again.
United Kingdom – The UK has not been individually targeted, but will be penalised by the global steel and aluminium tariffs. According to Prime Minister Starmer, the UK is “negotiating an economic deal which covers and will include tariffs if we succeed” but added about the possibility of retaliatory tariffs “we will keep all options on the table.”
Canada and Mexico – Trump announced 25% tariffs on both countries last month before postponing them for 30 days. Last week, Trump reapplied the tariffs, but agreed to postpone them on certain products for another 30 days. Mexican imports that comply with the USMCA Agreement (around half) are temporarily exempt, as are some automotive industry products from Canada. The Canadian government has also responded to the steel and aluminium tariff by introducing a 25% tax on several US products, including steel, computers and sports equipment.
China – A tariff increase of 10% became effective on February 4th, which was then increased to 20% from March 4th. China has introduced retaliatory tariff increases of their own on some US products.
Small Parcels – Trump signed an executive order to cancel the ‘de minimis’ trade exemption last month, which enables products valued under $800 to be imported duty free,. However, he had to backtrack as the US Postal Service were unable to manage duty collections. A solution has been demanded by April 1st.
The team at Regal Crown are monitoring the situation closely.
