WASHINGTON, July 2 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Monday warned that the Trump administration's new tariffs against imports threaten to spark a global trade war, as other trading partners have announced billions of dollars in retaliatory tariffs against American products.
"New tariffs on steel, aluminum, and Chinese imports, as well as the potential for additional tariffs on autos and auto parts, have pushed us to the brink of a global trade war," the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the largest business group in the country, said in a new study.
"Canada, Mexico, the EU (European Union), and China have already retaliated - or announced plans to retaliate - with billions of dollars in tariffs on American-made products," the business group said, adding approximately 75 billion U.S. dollars worth of U.S. exports will be subject to retaliatory tariffs as of this week.
"Tariffs are simply taxes that raise prices for everyone. Tariffs that beget tariffs that beget more tariffs only lead to a trade war that will cost American jobs and economic growth," Thomas J. Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement.
"The administration is threatening to undermine the economic progress it worked so hard to achieve," Donohue argued, noting it's time to reverse course and adopt "smarter, more effective approaches" for addressing trade concerns with commercial partners.
The study released on Monday includes a state-by-state breakdown of American products targeted by these retaliatory tariffs, as well as how much retaliatory tariffs could cost each state.
For example, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, exports worth about 1.7 billion dollars are subject to retaliatory tariffs, with American iron products, coffee and pastries among hardest-hit products.
Meanwhile, about 6.2 billion dollars of exports from the state of Washington could be targeted by retaliatory tariffs, with steel, aluminum products and coffee among hardest-hit exports.
Analysts said the study is likely to increase pressure on U.S. lawmakers to push back the Trump administration's tariff plans ahead of congressional elections in November.
A group of almost 60 U.S. business associations, including the National Foreign Trade Council, have urged Congress to exert greater oversight of the Trump administration's use of tariffs and other trade policy measures.
"We see the growing willingness of the current Administration to use tariffs (and the related use of absolute import quotas) as a major policy tool in an increasing number of trade disputes with our allies as a trend that needs to be addressed by Congress," the business associations last month said in a letter to leaders of the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee.
"Escalating tariff threats and the potential of trade wars with our trading partners, including with some of our most important allies, create uncertainty that will be felt by Americans across the country and by businesses of all sizes and across all industry sectors," they said.
