“La sabiduría de la vida consiste en la eliminación de lo no esencial. En reducir los problemas de la filosofía a unos pocos solamente: el goce del hogar, de la vida, de la naturaleza, de la cultura”.
Lin Yutang
Cervantes
Hoy es el día más hermoso de nuestra vida, querido Sancho; los obstáculos más grandes, nuestras propias indecisiones; nuestro enemigo más fuerte, el miedo al poderoso y a nosotros mismos; la cosa más fácil, equivocarnos; la más destructiva, la mentira y el egoísmo; la peor derrota, el desaliento; los defectos más peligrosos, la soberbia y el rencor; las sensaciones más gratas, la buena conciencia, el esfuerzo para ser mejores sin ser perfectos, y sobretodo, la disposición para hacer el bien y combatir la injusticia dondequiera que esté.
MIGUEL DE CERVANTES Don Quijote de la Mancha.
La Colmena no se hace responsable ni se solidariza con las opiniones o conceptos emitidos por los autores de los artículos.
3 de marzo de 2018
EU Threatens Iconic U.S. Brands After Trump Opens Door to Trade War
By Joe Deaux, Andrew Mayeda,Toluse Olorunnipa, and Erik Wasson
U.S. to slap 25% duty on steel, 10% on aluminum: president
European Union threatens to target Harley, Levi, U.S. whiskey
President Donald Trump set the stage for a trade war after slapping
tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, daring other countries to
retaliate and leading the European Union to warn that it would target
iconic American brands.
Hours
after Trump tweeted that “trade wars are good, and easy to win,”
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the bloc is
prepared to respond forcefully by targeting imports of Harley-Davidson
Inc. motorbikes, Levi Strauss & Co. jeans and bourbon whiskey from
the U.S.
Juncker’s
threat heightened the prospects of a global free-for-all, as the World
Trade Organization said the potential of escalating tensions “is real”
and the International Monetary Fund warned the restrictions would likely damage the U.S. and global economy.
Trump is facing anger from manufacturers and trade partners
in Asia and Europe after announcing tariffs of 25 percent on imported
steel and 10 percent on aluminum for “a long period of time.” He is
expected to sign the formal order next week. Commerce Secretary Wilbur
Ross said on Friday the president has chosen to impose the tariffs on
all countries and products, dimming the hopes for nations such as
Australia still pressing for an exemption.Ed Hyman, vice chairman at Evercore ISI, discusses possible tariffs from the U.S. and prospects of a trade war.
Trump
in a tweet Friday morning warned of more trade actions ahead, casting
them as reciprocal taxes, a term he has used for imposing levies on
imports from countries that charge higher duties on U.S. goods than the
U.S. currently charges.
“We will soon be starting RECIPROCAL TAXES
so that we will charge the same thing as they charge us. $800 Billion
Trade Deficit-have no choice!” Trump said in the tweet.
The
aggressive stance stoked fears of trade retaliation and roiled
investors. After the decision on tariffs initially depressed global
markets, U.S. stocks pared losses of more than 1 percent Friday, while
Treasuries slumped with the dollar as the wave of selling sparked by the
threat of a trade war eased.
The planned tariffs, justified on
the basis that cut-price metal imports hurt both American producers and
national security, now raise the prospect of retaliatory curbs on U.S.
exports and higher prices for domestic users. While the practical impact
may yet turn out to be limited, the political environment for global
trade has just taken a turn for the worse.
Trump’s actions could “could lead to other trading partners
taking similar actions and could ultimately weaken the international
trade conventions, like WTO rules, more generally,” according to a
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. research note on Friday.
The
EU is prepared to retaliate against select U.S. imports in a way that
would maximize political pressure on American leaders. Harley-Davidson
is based in House Speaker Paul Ryan’s home state of Wisconsin, while
bourbon whiskey hails from the state of Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell. San Francisco-based Levi Strauss is headquartered in House
Minority Leader’s Nancy Pelosi’s district.
The
official response in China, the world’s largest steel producer and the
main target of the tariffs, was muted. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua
Chunying said in Beijing Friday that China urges the U.S. to follow
trade rules.
Industry insiders were less restrained. The U.S.
measures “overturn the international trade order,” Wen Xianjun, vice
chairman of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, said in a
statement. “Other countries, including China, will take relevant
retaliatory measures.”
Li Xinchuang, vice chairman of the China Iron and Steel Association, called the move “stupid.”
China
has already launched a probe into U.S. imports of sorghum, and is
studying whether to restrict shipments of U.S. soybeans -- targets that
could hurt Trump’s support in some farming states. While China accounts
for just a fraction of U.S. imports of the metals, it’s accused of
flooding the global market and dragging down prices.
U.S.
allies, seeing their industries threatened, responded with bafflement
and dismay. Some also panned the idea that metal imports pose a threat
to national security.
“Steel and aluminum imports from Japan,
which is an ally, do not affect U.S. national security at all,” Japan’s
Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko told reporters in Tokyo Friday. “I would
like to convey that to the U.S. when I have an opportunity.”
The
impact of the step hinges in part on which nations will be affected,
said Alex Wolf, senior emerging markets economist at Aberdeen Standard
Investments in Hong Kong, who previously worked at the U.S. State
Department.
“Until we see the final scope of the tariffs and the
response from global trading partners, it’s hard to say it’s the start
of a tit-for-tat trade war,” Wolf said. — With assistance by
Justin Sink, Jennifer Jacobs, Daniel Ten Kate, Malcolm Scott, Miao Han,
Jason Scott, Jeff Black, Jamie Butters, and Bryce Baschuk
