And so it begins. The United States will impose import tariffs on steel and aluminium, and with depressing inevitability other nations and trading blocs will cry "foul" and reach for the drawer marked "retaliation", almost certainly leading to a wider and broader trade war.
It is not difficult to imagine how this will pan out for the wider global economy, geopolitics, overall trade flows and even the prices of steel and aluminium.But - and this may be the sting in the tail - there could be an unexpected and unwanted effect on business for the London Metal Exchange.To recap, on March 1, US President Donald Trump announced the intended imposition of trade tariffs under Section 232 of current US trade legislation, mandating tariffs of 25% on steel imports and 10% on aluminium imports into the country for an indefinite period.This should not have come as a complete surprise. Whatever your on Donald Trump - and there are many conflicting views - as a politician he is somewhat unusual in implementing promises made on the campaign trail before being elected. At some stage, he was going to get round to this, given its importance to...