Economic powerhouses on the precipice of all-out trade war
Brussels has threatened to slap tariffs on US products including bourbon, motorcycles and blue jeans
Whistler — The world’s largest economies stood at the precipice of all-out trade war as major US allies announced retaliation against stinging steel and aluminium tariffs that took effect on Friday. President Donald Trump’s decision on Thursday not to extend exemptions for Canada and the EU — the largest sources of foreign aluminium and steel respectively for the US — upended the agenda for talks among Group of Seven foreign ministers that are under way in Canada. As the EU, Canada and Mexico vowed to impose counter-tariffs on billions in US goods, France said it would not negotiate while the tariffs were in effect. Legislators in Trump’s Republican Party denounced the move as a threat to prosperity and global stock markets sank. In a call late on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron told Trump the tariffs were "illegal" and said Europe would respond in a "firm and proportionate manner". US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin conducted bilateral meetings with Group of Seven (G-7...
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