Countries Weigh How To Stand Up To Trump’s Tariff Barrage

As world leaders grasp for a response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs, they have two models to study — and both have plenty of pitfalls.

Two of the first targets of Trump’s trade ire, Mexico and Canada, have been going back and forth with the White House for over a month now to try and fend off steep new tariffs. But they’ve pursued very different strategies: Ottawa has taken a more confrontational approach, including immediate trade retaliation, drawing swift White House retribution; Mexico City has tried to lay low and buy time, but doesn’t have much more to show for it.

With a new round of tariffs on steel and aluminum that went into effect this week and worldwide “reciprocal” tariffs on the horizon next month, other countries have been taking notes. The lessons they draw will help determine just how much the global economy cracks up as Trump’s trade war deepens.

“There’s the ongoing debate that’s been consistent: Is it better to grovel and kiss the ring or is it better to stand up to the bully?” said William Reinsch, a former Commerce undersecretary now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Both have worked on occasion and both have not worked on occasion. So it’s hard to know in any given circumstance which one is the better tactic.”

A senior European Union official, granted anonymity per the ground rules of the briefing, told reporters on Wednesday that the bloc was “constantly speaking” with other world leaders about the U.S. tariffs and “comparing notes.” But, the official added, the EU is not yet coordinating its reaction with other countries.

The same day, the 27-country bloc announced a two-stage trade retaliation plan in response to the steel and aluminum tariffs, covering roughly $28 billion in U.S. imports to Europe, which will begin to kick in on April 1.

It’s similar to the way Canada responded to across-the-board 25 percent tariffs on its exports the Trump administration levied earlier this month, before rolling a major chunk back. And it drew a similarly aggressive reaction from the White House.

On Truth Social, Trump claimed the EU “put a nasty 50 percent tariff on whisky,” even though the EU’s tariff on U.S. bourbon doesn’t kick in until next month. “If this Tariff is not removed immediately, the U.S. will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER E.U. REPRESENTED COUNTRIES,” Trump wrote.

The president had an equally harsh response to Canada’s trade retaliation, particularly a fee hike the Canadian province of Ontario slapped on its electricity exports to the U.S. earlier this week. Trump threatened to immediately double the steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada, prompting a heated back-and-forth between the White House and Ontario Premier Doug Ford, before both sides walked back their actions.

But White House officials continue to complain about the responses from both Canada and Europe. “All this showed you is that Europe and Canada do not respect Donald Trump, and do not respect America’s ability to build its steel and aluminum industry, which is vital for national security,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Bloomberg TV. “Whereas you watched Mexico and you watched the U.K. be pragmatic and thoughtful, and the way we’re going to deal with them is going to be better.”

In contrast to Canada, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has been much less public with her appeals to Trump on the tariffs, and much quieter about the possible retaliation. Mexico still has yet to lay out how it will retaliate to the initial round of tariffs Trump imposed over concerns about fentanyl entering the country, or the new round of tariffs on steel and aluminum — which are expected to have a significant impact on the Mexican economy.

Sheinbaum confirmed at a press conference on Wednesday that the country will hold off on any retaliation until April.

“They’re trying to win some time to negotiate,” said Arturo Sarukhán, former Mexican ambassador to the United States. “They believe that the more aggressive positions by the European Union and Canada in immediately responding with countervailing duties are counterproductive.”

China’s response to several rounds of Trump tariffs has also been notably restrained. The Chinese government has begun to retaliate against Trump’s flat 10 percent tariffs on its exports to the U.S. — on the grounds China is a major source of the fentanyl entering the U.S. But China’s reaction wasn’t immediate, granting about a one week window both times for Trump to come to the negotiating table. And the country has not retaliated against Trump’s latest steel and aluminum tariffs.

Experts on U.S. and China relations suggest Beijing is eyeing a deal that could reduce trade curbs similar to the 2020 agreement the countries signed during Trump’s first term.

Most countries hit by Trump’s aluminum and steel tariffs chose to follow Mexico and China’s path. Australia, Japan, the U.K. and Brazil all held off from retaliating and have said they are seeking either an exemption from the tariffs, or a negotiation with the White House.

The U.K. “will keep all options on the table,” new Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in Parliament Wednesday, but he did not respond to the steel and aluminum tariffs in kind. Instead, Starmer is sending his trade chief, Jonathan Reynolds, to Washington this week. “We are focused on a pragmatic approach and are rapidly negotiating a wider economic agreement with the U.S. to eliminate additional tariffs and to benefit U.K. businesses and our economy,” Reynolds said soon after Trump’s metal tariffs took effect.

Australian Ambassador to the U.S. Kevin Rudd confirmed his country has been watching the recent U.S. back-and-forth with Canada and Mexico, as well as China. He told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Wednesday that he saw room for negotiation, because “when you look at the ebb and flow of trade and tariff negotiations here in Washington, there are rapid changes every day.”

But any carrot-based strategy can only stay that way so long, as U.S. trading partners stare down Trump’s April 2 target for reciprocal tariffs that could hit all U.S. trading partners. And while countries like Mexico and the United Kingdom haven’t been the specific target of the president’s ire as of late, their economies are still being threatened with steep duties.

Sarukhán said as more tariffs go into effect, leaders like Sheinbaum will be under pressure to respond more forcefully, and will have a tougher time remaining cool headed.

Canada and the EU, meanwhile, are trying to extend a hand even as they promise their citizens they will stand firm against Trump’s aggression. EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič called on his U.S. counterparts Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Friday, as part of Brussels’ effort to reach a trade detente with the White House.

“There’s still time for the U.S. to come and settle this, without having to go through the unnecessary pain of measures and countermeasures,” the senior EU official said.

A meeting between Lutnick and Canadian officials didn’t produce any immediate outcomes Thursday, but did signal a change in tone. Ford told reporters afterward that they had “lowered” the temperature between the two North American neighbors and praised Lutnick as a “shrewd negotiator.” The officials will meet again next week, Ford added.

Trump, after all, has touted himself as a first and foremost a dealmaker, raising hopes in foreign capitals that there’s an off-ramp for the escalating trade conflicts.

But as the EU official said, “It’s … not very productive to now start negotiating about removing the tariffs. You put a stinking fish on the table, and then you start negotiating to remove that stinking fish, and then you say, ‘Oh, we have a great result: there’s no stinking fish on the table.’”

Sue Allan contributed to this report from Ottawa, Graham Lanktree contributed from London and Jakob Weizman contributed from Brussels.