Escalating trade tensions will create 'only losers' - Voestalpine CEO
TOKYO, Oct 16 (Reuters) - No country would benefit from anyescalation in global trade tensions that were fueled by theUnited States' push this year to impose tariffs, the head ofAustrian steelmaker Voestalpine AG said on Tuesday.
"If we build up trade barriers, there will be only losers,"Chief Executive Wolfgang Eder told Reuters on the sidelines ofthe World Steel Association's general assembly in Tokyo.
Citing Section 232 of U.S. trade law, which allows fortariffs on national security grounds, the Trump administrationimposed global tariffs of 25 percent on steel imports and 10percent on aluminium in March, sparking similar retaliatoryresponses from its trade partners.
The United States and China have since engaged in atit-for-tat tariff war covering hundreds of billions of dollarsof goods traded between the world's two largest economies.
"Until we came to the U.S. Section 232 tariffs and similarprotectionism moves by others, the global situation waswell-balanced. But that's being questioned now," said Eder.
"We should do all (we can) to bring back the standard whichwe had before," he said, adding the world has moved in the rightdirection by developing a fair trade system over the past twodecades.
Voestalpine said last week that Washington has granted morethan half of the exemptions to its steel import tariffs that thecompany and its customers applied for. "We have not gotten answers to all of the applications, withsome of big ones still being unanswered," Eder said. "So wecan't comment on the final outcome."
Eder said it was not right for countries to build tradebarriers and ask companies to apply for exemptions.
"What we should aim for is to have as much free trade aspossible," he said.
(Reporting by Yuka ObayashiEditing by Manolo Serapio Jr.)
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