Canada, Europe hit back after US metals tariffs kick in
LONDON -- The European Union and Canada announced retaliatory tariffs on Wednesday after the Trump administration's metals duties went into effect, broadening a trade war with several of America's top trading partners.
The U.S. at midnight began imposing 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports from all trading partners, with no exceptions or exemptions, the White House said.
Th S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq closed higher on Wednesday, despite the trade tensions. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed slightly lower.
Officials representing the European Union said member states would place countermeasures on some 26 billion euros, or about $28 billion, worth of U.S. goods. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said in a statement that the EU "must act to protect consumers and business."
"Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and even worse for consumers," von der Leyen said. "These tariffs are disrupting supply chains. They bring uncertainty for the economy. Jobs are at stake. Prices will go up. In Europe and in the United States."
Canada followed by announcing tariffs on about 29.8 billion Canadian dollars, or about $20.7 billion, in U.S. goods expected to be imported, government officials said. The U.S. imports more steel and aluminum from Canada than any other country.
"Our sole focus is to stand up for Canada interests, Canadian jobs and Canadian workers," Dominic LeBlanc, minister of Intergovernmental Affairs of Canada, said in a press conference in Ottawa.
The Canadian tariffs will begin at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, LeBlanc said. They were designed to be proportional to the U.S. tariffs, he said.
The European measures were also designed to match the scope of those U.S. tariffs, which the European Union said would be worth about $28 billion. The countermeasures were expected to begin on April 1 and be fully in place by April 13, the commission said.
"In the meantime, we will always remain open to negotiation," von der Leyen said.
The countermeasures comprise two steps, the first of which is to restore on April 1 a set of previously suspended 2018 and 2020 countermeasures against the U.S. on a range of products.
For step two, member states will then put in place by mid-April new countermeasures targeting about 18 billion euros worth of U.S. goods entering the bloc.
Those new countermeasures will target both industrial and agricultural products, including steel and aluminum, home appliances, wood products, poultry, beef and other food imports, according to a fact sheet released on Wednesday.
Maros Sefcovic, the EU's trade commissioner, said European officials would continue working with their U.S. counterparts toward a "win-win" outcome, but the "unjustified tariffs on our exports will not go unanswered."
"We should be making this great relationship stronger, not weaker," he said in a statement.
ABC News' Zunaira Zaki contributed to this report.
