Trump effect: the most important tariff wars of the last decades

Donald Trump announced that reciprocal tariffs will be imposed to countries that tax USA in order to match the rates that apply to their exports. While these measures will not immediately enter into force, during some “weeks or months” the first to suffer their attacks will be the markets with the highest commercial deficit with the American giant.

The Republican president uses taxes as a pressure tool to obtain concessions in commerce but also in migration and safety. It should be added that 25 % will be increased to aluminum and steel imports (it will enter into force on March 12), as well as the additional tax of 10 % to China. Mexico and Canada are also in the sight of the White House.

Although since the World Trade Organization (WTO) works, tariff wars are an exception, Trump’s aggressive policy calls to remember the latest most relevant conflicts.

European Union – United States: hormonated meat

In January 1989, the United States applied 100% tariff . A US $ 100 million was estimated for farmers who stopped selling meat.

Only in 2012 the litigation was resolved. The EU approved changes in the legislation related to the importation of beef of beef which allowed to fold the import quota from the United States and Canada, although meat from treated animals remained vetoed in the old continent.

USA and its long battle for steel

In December 1992, temporary tariffs of up to 58% were announced to steel imported from a dozen countries – Brazil, Spain, Mexico, Germany, South Korea, France, Great Britain, Sweden, Belgium, Italy, Austria and New Zealand— because the subsidies that these nations convenient the product cheated their price by 148% compared to those produced by the United States.

Shortly after the ratio was extended and others were imposed on more countries, although in July 1993 they were reduced by half in twenty countries. Although, in 2000 the United States again bet on this tariff policy of between 5% and 19% to Brazil, Japan, South Korea and the European Union. For 2002 it applied it to China and Russia up to 30%. There was a block rejection of the affected countries, which went to the WTO that in November 2003 confirmed the illegality of tariffs. A month later George Bush withdrew most of the rates.

The banana war with Latin America

In 2012, the European Union and 11 Latin American countries – among them – formalized before the WTO the end of the “Banana War” with the signing of an agreement that ended twenty years of commercial conflict.

This contentious process began in 1993 when Brussels set a preferential regime for ACP countries (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific) to the detriment of Latin America countries, whose banana imports taxed with higher tariffs.

United States vs. European Union by Boeing and Airbus

Commercial tensions were fueled by public aid to the two largest aeronautical manufacturers in the world: Boeing and Airbus. In 2021, a five -year truce was achieved after almost 17 years of reciprocal imposition of tariffs on various products and even in sectors outside the conflict, such as agriculture.

The struggle began in 2004 when the US accused the European group of having received illegal subsidies worth US $ 22,000 million. The EU claimed that Boeing had also received them.

At the discretion of the World Trade Organization, the EU broke the commercial rules with its state subsidies to Airbus, and authorized the US to impose taxes. And, by 2020, he considered that Boeing had been illegally supported by the US, which allowed the European tariff response.

COMMERCIAL WAR AGAINST CHINA

The first management of Donald Trump established in March 2018 a 25% tariff to steel and 10% to aluminum (except exceptions) that damaged China and the European Union.

Likewise, it raised the rates to Chinese products, including the technological and industrial sector, reaching a value of US $ 370,000 million annually.

China and the EU sued the United States against WTO and hired US export taxes.

Only in January 2020 an agreement between Beijing and Washington was reached that established an increase in US imports in US $ 200,000 million. The United States reduced some of the new tariffs to Chinese products in May and in May 2021 the Tariff Target was given to steel between the US and the EU.