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The British government on Wednesday called the Trump administration’s tariffs on global steel and aluminum imports “disappointing,” but said that it won’t impose retaliatory measures.Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, however, did not rule out future tariffs on U.S. imports and said he would “continue to engage closely and productively with the U.S. to press the case for U.K. business interests.”“We will keep all options on the table and won’t hesitate to respond in the national interest,” Reynolds said.Treasury Minister James Murray echoed that, telling Times Radio: “We reserve our right to retaliate.”Britain is not part of the European Union, which Wednesday announced import taxes on American goods, ranging from steel and aluminum to bourbon, peanut butter, and jeans in response to Trump’s move.Center-left U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has worked to build strong ties with President Donald Trump, in hope of avoiding the tariffs levied on many other U.S. trading partners.After a meeting last month at the White House, Trump and Starmer said their governments would work on sealing a long-elusive U.S.-U.K. trade deal.Reynolds said the government remains “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.”The tariffs are a new blow for Britain’s once-mighty steel industry, which has shrunk dramatically from its 1970s peak and now accounts for 0.1% of the economy. Thousands of jobs are due to be lost at the country’s biggest steelworks, at Port Talbot in Wales, as owner Tata Steel tries to make the unprofitable plant leaner and greener.Trade body UK Steel said that in 2024, Britain exported 180,000 metric tons (198,000 U.S. tons) of steel to the United States, about 7% of the U.K.’s total steel exports by volume and 9% by value. The aluminum industry says the U.S. market accounts for 10% of U.K. exports. Jill Lawless, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
The European Union on Wednesday announced retaliatory trade action with new duties on U.S. industrial and farm products, responding within hours to the Trump administration’s increase in tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25%.The world’s biggest trading bloc was expecting the U.S. tariffs and prepared in advance, but the measures still place great strain on already tense transatlantic relations. Only last month, Washington warned Europe that it would have to take care of its own security in the future.The EU measures will cover goods from the United States worth some 26 billion euros ($28 billion), and not just steel and aluminum products, but also textiles, home appliances, and agricultural goods. Motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter, and jeans will be hit, as they were during President Donald Trump’s first term.The EU duties aim for pressure points in the U.S. while minimizing additional damage to Europe. The tariffstaxes on importsprimarily target Republican-held states, hitting soybeans in House speaker Mike Johnson’s Louisiana, but also beef and poultry in Kansas and Nebraska. Produce in Alabama, Georgia, and Virginia is also on the list. The EU moves to protect itself European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement that the bloc “will always remain open to negotiation.”“As the U.S. are applying tariffs worth 28 billion dollars, we are responding with countermeasures worth 26 billion euros,” she said. The commission manages trade and commercial conflicts on behalf of the 27 member EU countries.“We firmly believe that in a world fraught with geopolitical and economic uncertainties, it is not in our common interest to burden our economies with tariffs,” von der Leyen said.Trump said his taxes would help create U.S. factory jobs, but von der Leyen said: “Jobs are at stake. Prices will go up. In Europe and in the United States.”“We deeply regret this measure. Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and even worse for consumers. These tariffs are disrupting supply chains. They bring uncertainty for the economy,” she said. American business group urges talks The American Chamber of Commerce to the EU said the U.S. tariffs and EU countermeasures “will only harm jobs, prosperity, and security on both sides of the Atlantic.”“The two sides must de-escalate and find a negotiated outcome urgently,” the chamber said Wednesday. What will actually happen? Trump slapped similar tariffs on EU steel and aluminum during his first term in office, which enraged European and other allies. The EU also imposed countermeasures in retaliation at the time, raising tariffs on U.S.-made motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter, and jeans, among other items.This time, the EU action will involve two steps. First, on April 1, the commission will reintroduce what it calls “rebalancing measures,” which the EU had from 2018 and 2020 but which were suspended under the Biden administration. Then on April 13 come the additional duties targeting 18 billion euros ($19.6 billion) in U.S. exports to the bloc.EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič traveled to Washington last month in an effort to head off the tariffs, meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and other top trade officials.He said on Wednesday that it became clear during the trip “that the EU is not the problem.”“I argued to avoid the unnecessary burden of measures and countermeasures, but you need a partner for that. You need both hands to clap,” Šefčovič told reporters at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. European steel companies brace for losses The EU could lose up to 3.7 million tons of steel exports, according to the European steel association Eurofer. The U.S. is the second biggest export market for EU steel producers, representing 16% of the total EU steel exports.The EU estimates that annual trade volume between both sides stands at about $1.5 trillion, representing some 30% of global trade. While the bloc has a substantial export surplus in goods, it says that is partly offset by the U.S. surplus in the trade of services.Britain, which isn’t part of the EU, meanwhile said it won’t impose retaliatory measures of its own on the U.S. British Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said Wednesday he would “continue to engage closely and productively with the U.S. to press the case for U.K. business interests.”He did not rule out future tariffs on U.S. imports, saying “we will keep all options on the table and won’t hesitate to respond in the national interest.” McHugh reported from Frankfurt. Associated Press writer Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report. This story corrects Maroš Šefčovič’s title to EU trade commissioner, not European Commission vice president. Lorne Cook and David McHugh, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
Forget a diamond ring, the latest symbol of commitment now comes in the form of wearable tech. The RAW ring, created by the dating app RAW and Queens Tech, allows couples to track each others emotions, both good and bad. Coming as a pairone for you, one for your partnerthe rings track the wearers heartbeat, use bio-sensors to track their vitals, and detect voice and emotional cues for changes. Think, a digital mood ring, but for someone elses emotions. Keep you and your partners hearts beating as one. Feel their emotions, share your vibe, and stay connected in ways that go beyond words, reads a statement on the RAW website. Marriage evolves, and so does loyalty. Sacred vows go digital. RAWs mission? Making true love trackable. The rings makers claim that the device can identify emotional states such as stress, anxiety and arousal. When somethings up, youll know. Simple as that, adds Marina Anderson, RAW cofounder. Tracking your partners emotions comes with some obvious pitfalls. While the company claims that the ring understands contextsuch as telling the difference between a spike in heart rate from exercise versus emotional arousalthings could still get awkward. If your synced ring suddenly flashes purple-red (a signal for arousal) in the middle of the workday, thats probably not a conversation youll be excited to have when you both get home. While for some couples, sharing their location is quickly becoming a modern relationship milestone, is it really healthy to know every tiny fluctuation of your partners emotions throughout the day? As technology becomes increasingly woven into our daily lives, the line between convenience and control is growing increasingly blurred. Granting your partner access to your intimate emotions is a recipe for disaster if jealousy is a pre-existing issue in the relationship. In extreme cases, abusers have also been known to use tracking technology to stalk and surveil their partners. For those who are eager to test out the Raw ring, the device has yet to hit the market but is likely to be made available to purchase in late 2025 or early 2026. Details on the price have yet to be announced.
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E-Commerce
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