The announcement made by the US of its intention to impose unilateral safeguard measures of up to 30% on imports of steel products – to protect its own steel industry – evidences a rapid deterioration of trade relations between the US and the European Union (EU). By itself the decision would have strained the relations between the two trade partners at the best of times. In this case the US measures come at a time when both sides have recently engaged in a series of controversial measures that have antagonised the other.
Neither side is blameless in helping to ferment the explosive cocktail of trade measures that penalise the commercial interests of the other.
