G20 leaders steel themselves for Trump's next trade move

July 10, 2017

Of all the issues testing the mettle of G20 leaders in Hamburg, Germany this weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to put new tariffs on steel imports to protect national security may be the strangest.

If the logic put forward by countries like Canada prevails, his threats may also be empty.

Or not. Who can say these days, really?...

On the campaign trail last year, Trump railed against the evil of Chinese steel being dumped into the U.S., robbing American steelworkers of jobs. But [Chad Bown, a senior fellow with the Peterson Institute for International Economics] Bown's research finds duties already in place on Chinese steel are working; very few U.S. imports come from China.

That means that if a U.S. Commerce Department investigation ... finds foreign steel imports a "national security threat," it's not really China that would be hit by new import quotas or duties.

It's some of America's best trading partners: Japan, Germany, and yes, Canada — barring a North American exemption...

Trump's threat is extremely dangerous, [Bown] said, calling it "the nuclear option" — something that ignores international rules and doesn't allow counter-arguments.

Yes, countries could — and would, the EU's trade commissioner, Cecilia Malmstrom, suggested Friday — appeal to the World Trade Organization....

"It really would give them the political motivation or excuse to not abide by legal rulings, or something as drastic as pulling the United States out of the [WTO]."

Fearing this, injured countries might hesitate to appeal steel tariffs, he said. "But then if we don't challenge this ... what kind of signal does that send?"

It's a Pandora's Box, Bown said. Farmers don't want competition from imports? Surely food sovereignty could be a national security concern, too...

Last month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pointed out Canada collaborates daily with the U.S. on security, intelligence and defence issues, so portraying it as "somehow not a trusted partner to sell steel is uh, a little bit silly, to be quite frank," he said.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday from Germany, Trudeau said he's spoken to Trump a number of times about steel...

This is exerpted from 8 July 2017 edition of CBC News.


Topic(s): 
Canadian Economy & Politics
Information Source: 
Canadian News Channel
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