At the time of going to press, US President Donald Trump was expected to imminently announce tariff hikes on steel and aluminium. The day before, he had promised to “announce tariffs on steel on Monday”, as well as on aluminium, at a rate of 25%. This threat weighs heavily on the European economy: of the 26.4 million tonnes of crude steel imported by the United States in 2024, the EU produced 3.6 million tonnes, making it the third largest supplier after Brazil and Canada.
For the...