The imposition of tariffs by the USA on steel and aluminium today is most unfortunate, but it is not yet, nationally speaking, a disaster.
1 June 2018 L. Alan Winters CB is Professor of Economics and Director of the Observatory. President Trump threatened them two months ago and invited various countries to avoid them by agreeing ‘voluntarily’ to curtail their exports to the USA. Korea, Argentina, Australia and Brazil agreed to do so but, to their credit, Canada, the European Union and Mexico did not, and so face 25 percent tariffs from today. […]