U.S. Imposes Sweeping Steel, Aluminum Tariffs

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the latest slew of U.S. tariffs, Greenland’s election results, a no-confidence vote in Portugal, and resumed U.S. military aid to Ukraine.

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Fierce Global Backlash

The United States imposed 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports on Wednesday. The policy is aimed at leveling the playing field for U.S. manufacturers, but experts predict that the duties will cost U.S. companies billions of dollars, risk an economic slowdown, and escalate a growing global trade war.

Among those most heavily targeted are the European Union, Canada, and China. The United States represents 16 percent of all EU steel exports, making it the bloc’s second-biggest market. According to European steel association Eurofer, the EU could lose up to 3.7 million tons of steel exports due to the tariffs.

Earlier this week, the White House planned to impose additional 25 percent duties on Canadian metals in response to threats of a surcharge on U.S. electricity, announced by Ontario Premier Doug Ford. But those additional duties were scrapped when Ford agreed to pause his threat ahead of trade talks, which will be held on Thursday with Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Meanwhile, metal duties on China hit a total rate of 45 percent, as the United States already has a 20 percent across-the-board tariff on Chinese imports. The latest round comes on top of separate tariffs that the United States has placed on Canada, Mexico, and China as well as “reciprocal” tariffs that Washington plans to impose on the European Union, Brazil, and South Korea on April 2.

Wednesday’s steel and aluminum tariffs prompted immediate foreign backlash. The European Union was among the first to respond, announcing retaliatory duties targeting around $28 billion worth of U.S. exports. They will be imposed in two waves: on April 1 and April 13. The duties are primarily aimed at products made in Republican-majority states, such as beef and poultry from Kansas and Nebraska—in an apparent aim at Trump’s base. But tariffs will also hit Democrat-majority states, such as Illinois, which is the No. 1 U.S. producer of soybeans.

“We deeply regret this measure,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday. “Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and even worse for consumers,” she said, adding that the EU “will always remain open to negotiation.”

Ottawa also responded with retaliatory measures. As the largest steel supplier to the United States, Canada said it will place 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum starting Thursday as well as raise duties on a slew of other products. These will impact goods worth around $20.6 billion, and they come on top of 25 percent counter-tariffs that Canada imposed on March 4 in response to other U.S. trade threats.

Canadian Prime Minister-elect Mark Carney said on Wednesday that he is ready to meet with Trump to discuss alleviating the tariffs but only if the United States respects his country’s sovereignty. Trump has repeatedly threatened to make Canada the 51st U.S. state, going so far as to call their centuries-old border an “artificial line of separation” in a Truth Social post on Tuesday.

Not every country responded to U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs with retaliatory duties, though. On Wednesday, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the U.S. tariffs “entirely unjustified” but stopped short of imposing reciprocal measures. “Tariffs and escalating trade tensions are a form of economic self-harm and a recipe for slower growth and higher inflation,” he warned.

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What We’re Following

Election upsets. Snap parliamentary elections in Greenland on Tuesday resulted in a complete upheaval, with the center-right Demokraatit party more than tripling its seat count to secure first place. Naleraq, another pro-independence party, came in second place with almost 25 percent of the vote. Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Egede said on Wednesday that the parties will now work to form a coalition government.

Having two pro-independence parties achieve surprise victories signaled a surge in Greenlandic nationalism at a time when Trump is repeatedly calling for the United States to take control of the mineral-rich Danish territory—something that authorities in Greenland and Denmark have resoundingly dismissed. On Wednesday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the election “a joyful day and a celebration of democracy.”

Also on Tuesday, Portugal’s center-right minority government lost a no-confidence vote in parliament, forcing Social Democrat Prime Minister Luís Montenegro to resign from office. Montenegro’s Democratic Alliance finished first in a March 2024 election, but the win was tight, with the Socialist Party and far-right Chega party also securing significant portions of the vote. Montenegro has been unable to form a ruling coalition since.

The no-confidence vote comes amid the worst bout of political instability that the country has experienced since Portugal began the transition to democracy in 1974. Lisbon will likely hold new elections in May, according to President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa; this will be Portugal’s third such vote in three years.

Renewing arms shipments. U.S. military aid deliveries to Ukraine resumed on Wednesday, one day after Saudi Arabia hosted high-level talks between U.S. and Ukrainian officials. During the meeting, Kyiv expressed willingness to accept a 30-day cease-fire with Russia and immediately enter peace talks—should Moscow agree to do the same.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that it’s important not to “get ahead” of the truce proposal, adding that Russia is waiting on “detailed information” from the United States before it can take a position. The White House’s Middle East special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to travel to Moscow this week to discuss the plan.

Trump suspended all U.S. arms and intelligence-sharing to Ukraine more than a week ago following a heated meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House. The move sparked major outcry among Ukraine’s supporters, including Washington’s NATO allies. As of Wednesday, though, U.S. weapons deliveries were up and running again through a Polish logistics center.

Hostage standoff ends. Pakistani officials said on Wednesday that they had rescued more than 300 travelers taken hostage the previous day by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist group that hijacked a train bound for the northwestern city of Peshawar by blowing up the tracks.

The militants—all of whom were reportedly killed during the rescue operation—killed around two dozen hostages, though there are conflicting reports about the exact death toll.

The BLA has long sought independent control of Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, which borders Afghanistan. The group has repeatedly targeted Punjabi travelers, Chinese infrastructure workers, and other civilians in a string of high-profile terrorist attacks. —Rishi Iyengar

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Odds and Ends

Saturn’s skies are evidently a lot more crowded than previously thought. Astronomers ratified 128 newly discovered moons circling the famous ringed planet on Tuesday, bringing its total number to 274. That is nearly three times as many moons as Jupiter has—and certainly more than the one cratered neighbor that Earth boasts. At just a couple of miles wide each, none of the newly discovered moons match the size of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.