U.S. Allies Are Helping Trump Undermine Global Trade

If it’s a trade war Donald Trump wants, U.S. allies have warned, it’s a trade war he’ll get. In response to the American president’s recent decision to impose steep tariffs on aluminum and steel imports from Europe, Mexico, and Canada, leaders from all three have challenged the tariffs at the World Trade Organization (WTO). They have also announced their own retaliatory levies on American goods. On Saturday, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared that Canada would not “be pushed around” on trade by the Americans.

The first decision didn’t come as a surprise. In fact, the European Union, Mexico, and Canada warned in advance that they would confront the U.S.” that Canada could pose a national-security threat to its neighbor. Cecilia Malmström, the EU trade commissioner, said the bloc, as both friends and allies, is “.”