First it was said that goods from China should be subject to a punitive tariff of 60 percent, and goods from Europe should be correspondingly 10 percent more expensive to import in order to secure American jobs.
Now it is rumored from the incoming American president, Donald Trump, that imports from Canada and Mexico will have a 25 percent tariff added on top of that, because the two countries are not putting enough effort into slowing the flow of the narcotic drug fentanyl into the United States.
For the same reason, he will also increase the tariff on goods from China by 10 percentage points.
Peter Bay Kirkegaard is senior chief consultant for global trade and investments in Danish Industry.
He expects that we will continue to hear similar announcements until January 20, when Trump is officially inaugurated as president.
And then he is not sure that all the promises will come true.
– I think that you should see the 25 percent as a negotiating proposal for Canada and Mexico.
– Now it is up to them to come up with proposals for how they want to do something about the problem, and then there will be a negotiation.
– It is very much in line with how Trump has acted in the past. Threats work in his eyes, and therefore it is probably a foretaste of more of this kind to come, says Peter Bay Kirkegaard.
He assesses that Trump’s changing threats create insecurity and worries in boardrooms and in the management corridors of Danish companies that export to the USA.
– The many announcements make it very difficult to plan how to approach the American market.
– Some companies have already made sure to get a lot of goods into the US, so they have a warehouse.
– But it is not a feasible solution, and it is also expensive to have large stocks lying around, says Peter Bay Kirkegaard.
He is aware that Donald Trump’s underlying agenda is to get companies to produce in the United States.
– But moving your production there does not solve all problems, because you must also have imported goods for your production, which may be subject to new customs duties, because they come from, for example, Canada or Mexico.
– At the same time, the American economy is running at full speed, so it is not easy to get hold of labor either, he says.
The USA is Denmark’s largest export market. Danish companies exported goods and services worth DKK 292 billion last year.
Almost half of the total export of goods and services to the USA has never crossed the Danish border. This happens when, for example, a company produces goods in the USA which are sold to American consumers or companies.
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Source: www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk
