How will the trade war announced by the US affect US?

According to him, the EU executive board politically sanctioned the list of US goods subject to duties in 25% in response to Trump's decision. Their EU buys in the US at 2,8 billion euros per year.

But if you believe US statistics, EU countries are not among the main suppliers of steel to America. Top importers are Canada, Brazil, South Korea, Mexico and Russia.

By the way, among the importers is Ukraine, for which metallurgy is the main export item. Ukraine sells up to 200 thousand tons of steel per year to the United States.

The only EU country that sells steel to America is Germany, with a relatively modest three percent of the total share.

That is why the EU’s response to Trump’s protectionism looks disproportionately harsh, notes "The country".

Eye for an eye

EU Finance Commissioner Pierre Moscovisi spoke about an impressive arsenal of countermeasures prepared by Brussels.

A 25% duty may be imposed on T-shirts, jeans and cosmetics, motorcycles and yachts. In addition, agricultural products and processed agricultural products are mentioned: rice, corn, orange juice, cranberries. Even bourbon and tobacco may fall under the European tariff ban.

In the American media, the EU's retaliatory measures were briefly and succinctly dubbed “an eye for an eye.”

Brussels almost does not hide the political attachment of its measures. They are quite "targeted". Harley-Davidson is Wisconsin, the patrimony of Republican Congress Speaker Paul Ryan. “Bourbon” Belgian importers of elite alcohol are brought from “Republican” Kentucky. It is hard to say how heavy the Kentucky tariff strike will be, but the Belgian importers of Bourbon can go broke.

Most Brussels-based experts doubt that raising the tariffs on steel and aluminum from the EU alone will cause a world trade war. But they point to a risk that a further US offensive against China’s trade interests may create. War is so war, and already Beijing, which is usually restrained in economic relations with America, threatens it with an increase in import tariffs for American soybeans. “Especially in the light of today's globalization, the choice of a trade war is a mistake,” warns Chinese Foreign Minister Wang I. The Chinese expressed their concerns in the WTO, where they were also supported by 17 members of this organization.

Brussels experts do not forget about Trump’s threat to impose prohibitive duties on the import of European cars if the EU responds. All this threatens to unwind the "military" spiral. “We don’t want to escalate at all,” said EU Commissioner for Trade Malström in this connection. “But if this happens, then we will take steps to protect our jobs.”