Trump tariff: UK trade secretary slams ‘wrong’ approach, to seek exemption

International backlash after Donald Trump confirms plans to levy steep import tariffs on steel and aluminium

Just hours after US President Donald Trump confirmed plans to levy steep import tariffs of 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent for aluminium, his decision has provoked widespread condemnation from the likes of China and France.

“Presidential Proclamation on Adjusting Imports of Aluminum into the United States”

Proclamation: https://t.co/aCaMtOUAl0
Remarks: https://t.co/nypErcqFSU pic.twitter.com/rcrkpvChkz

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 8, 2018

Meanwhile, Britain’s Trade Secretary Liam Fox has called out US for taking the ‘wrong’ approach and also said it would be “absurd” for Britain to be caught up in them.

Fox would raise this issue in a trip to Washington next week.

While talking to BBC’s Question Time, Fox said that there was overproduction of steel in the world, but that protectionism “never really works”, adding that British steel was used to supply the US military.

“So it’s doubly absurd that we should then be caught on an investigation on national security. We can deal multilaterally with the overproduction of steel, but this is the wrong way to go about it,” he added.

Meanwhile, China— which produces half the world’s steel — has led an international backlash after Trump confirmed plans to levy steep tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. Beijing has described the decision as a “serious attack on normal international trade order”, some European leaders have already threatened retaliatory actions.

Meanwhile, Trump has also said that “flexibility and cooperation” would be shown to friendly countries.