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Courtesy of the Times.
America’s largest business group has called on President Trump to reverse course on his aggressive international trade policy before he triggers a full-blown trade war that directly threatens 2.6 million jobs. In a rare intervention, the US Chamber of Commerce, which is typically pro-Republican, has launched a campaign against the administration’s protectionist trade tariffs by detailing potential job losses in US states that were key to the president’s election victory.
The chamber believes 2.6 million jobs are threatened by the Trump administration’s trade policies. Retaliatory tariffs have already been placed on about $75 billion of American goods so far.
Thomas Donohue, chief executive of the chamber, said: “The administration is threatening to undermine the economic progress it worked so hard to achieve. Tariffs that beget tariffs that beget more tariffs only lead to a trade war that will cost American jobs and economic growth.”
The US Chamber of Commerce represents three million companies, from sole traders to major corporations, and was founded 106 years ago. The group wants the Trump administration to drop plans to slap import tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of foreign imports, saying that retaliatory levies from America’s trading partners are already hurting US businesses and consumers.
Mr Trump’s administration has implemented tariffs on steel and aluminium imports and is considering a 25 per cent duty on vehicle imports. In retaliation, the European Union, China, Canada and Mexico have imposed tariffs on American imports, with more to follow this week. The EU said on Sunday that it could hit back against proposed US car import tariffs with levies on nearly $300 billion of American imports.
Liam Fox, UK trade secretary, used a meeting yesterday with Wilbur Ross, the US commerce secretary, to make the case for a UK exemption to American steel tariffs. Concerns about a trade war dragged Asia and Europe’s markets lower yesterday. The FTSE 100 fell 89 points to 7,547.85 in London after the Nikkei 225 shed 492.58 points in Tokyo and Chinese markets lost 3 per cent. However, after a late rally on Wall Street last night the Dow Jones industrial average closed up 35.77 points at 24,307.18. This morning the Nikkei slipped 26 points and markets in Europe edged slightly higher, with the FTSE up just 14 point.