Bloomberg: Trump on Trade Wars – “Easy to Win”

US President Donald Trump roiled US and global stock markets, sparking fears of trade retaliation in one day, with a plan for adding tariffs on steel and aluminum that was postponed and scheduled for later announcement. The plan would add 25 percent tariffs on steel and 10 percent on aluminum for an indefinite period with no details on exempted countries. Steel and aluminum are an intricate part of global supply chains for manufacturing automobiles, aircraft and other products. On Twitter, Trump wrote: “When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win.” China accounts for about half of the world’s steel exports, but does not count among the top US suppliers. If the plan goes through, analysts anticipate retaliation. “Canada – the biggest foreign supplier of steel to the U.S. – said the measures were unacceptable while the European Union vowed to ‘react firmly’ with World Trade Organization-compliant countermeasures in the next few days,” reports a Bloomberg team. US companies point out the US does not manufacture enough aluminum for their needs, and countries may avoid the United States as an unreliable trade partner. – YaleGlobal