Trade experts are warning of “uncertainty in the relationship” between the US and its allies as an “expansionist” tariff policy takes hold. The US Commerce Department is reviewing 700 new items, from bikes to baking trays, for “steel derivative” tariffs, a move that threatens to bypass existing trade deals.
The requests are driven by US firms. Guardian Bikes, for example, claimed 11 million imports “lost” the US industry. Red Gold canning argued it’s “unfair” it pays high steel tariffs while foreign can importers do not.
This policy is a major problem for the UK and EU. They had already agreed to baseline tariffs (10% and 25% respectively). This new “rolling” list would add another levy on top of those rates, a move they say “makes a mockery” of the pacts.
The fear is amplified by the near-100% success rate of a previous 407-item list in August. An analyst at Flint Global, George Riddell, noted the US has taken a “very liberal, expansive approach” to approvals, with almost no rejections.
This precedent has fueled the new, larger round of requests, which were submitted before an October 21 deadline.
A decision on the 700 new items is expected in December or January. This has left European businesses bracing for another economic blow and a new era of unpredictable trade relations.