America and the EU demonstrate protectionism’s ratchet effect

As america unleasheseu eu gsaeueu a barrage of new protectionist measures under President Joe Biden, it continues to be dogged by past efforts—not least the tariffs on aluminium and steel that President Donald Trump thought necessary. These “section 232” levies, named after the trade act under which they were introduced, are scheduled to return to their original scope at the start of 2024, when a deal agreed by Mr Biden and the is due to run out.The deal allows the vast majority of exports to America to continue as before the tariffs. It was intended to give the two sides time to weld a comprehensive pact called the “Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminium” (). This would, negotiators hoped, reduce excess capacity in steel markets and set out a joint way to decarbonise without crushing domestic producers. “These negotiations should be on the simpler end of the spectrum. They are only about two products, and America and the have a very similar profile in these industries,” says Todd Tucker of the Roosevelt Institute, a think-tank. But at a summit on October 20th the ’s top brass and Mr Biden admitted that they needed more time to negotiate.