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Does the US Still Want Free Trade?

President Donald Trump signs a tariff order on imports of aluminium and steel, raising fears of a trade war. So how will global trade be affected?

Donald Trump campaigned on a pledge to put 'America first'. In his first year in office the policy was pursued in a number of areas including immigration and national security, but, when it came to the economy, despite threats, the status quo more or less remained the same. Now that's changed. President Trump has signed an order imposing a 25 percent tariff on steel and a 10 percent tariff on aluminium imports. So will the move rebuild and protect the US steel industry, as the president has pledged? Will it result in a trade war? And is American economic nationalism pushing its closest trading partners away from the US - towards free trade with each other?

(Photo: Getty Images)

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50 minutes

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Sat 10 Mar 2018 12:06GMT
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Contributors:

Laura Baughman of Trade Partnership Worldwide, a consulting firm based in Washington DC

Iana Dreyer Editor of Β Borderlex.eu, a European trade-policy news site

Thomas Frank historian and journalist

Van Mobley an economist at Concordia University in Wisconsin

Also featuring:

Lou Mavrakis former mayor of Monessen, Pennsylvania

John Weekes Canada's former chief negotiator on NAFTA

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  • Fri 9 Mar 2018 00:06GMT
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Australasia, Online, Americas and the Caribbean, UK DAB/Freeview & Europe and the Middle East only
  • Fri 9 Mar 2018 09:06GMT
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except News Internet
  • Fri 9 Mar 2018 18:06GMT
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Australasia
  • Fri 9 Mar 2018 23:06GMT
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service East and Southern Africa, South Asia, West and Central Africa & East Asia only
  • Sat 10 Mar 2018 04:06GMT
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except Australasia & News Internet
  • Sat 10 Mar 2018 12:06GMT
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except Americas and the Caribbean, East and Southern Africa, News Internet & West and Central Africa

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