Fierce criticism of Trump trade tariffs

Canadian President Justin Trudeau
Canadian President Justin Trudeau
By Mark Armstrong
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The French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian called the move brutal and unacceptable

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There's been strong criticism from around the world of Donald Trump's decision to impose trade tariffs on steel and aluminium.

Some of the fiercest reaction has come from traditional allies of the United States

"It is a brutal and unacceptable decision. It is the law of the strongest but in world affairs," said France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. "international relations don't fall under the law of the strongest. International relations are not the wild west...we are not willing to engage in a trade war. And we think this aggressive isolationism led by (U.S.) President Trump will end at some point."

There was an equally strong reaction from America's neighbour Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau:

"Let me be clear these tariffs are totally unacceptable"

And Canada made it clear that Trump's decision will not go unanswered.

"This is 16.6 billion dollars of retaliation. This is the strongest trade action Canada has taken in the post-war era," said the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Chrystia Freeland.

And to the south, the Mexicans were clear that they too will retaliate.

"Today we announce that we will be taking equivalent actions to the ones taken by the United States in terms of the impact in the flow of commerce," said Ildefonso Guajardo, Mexican Economy Minister

While all countries say they don't want a trade war, their reactions seem to lead to just such a situation.

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