The Trump regime waited until the last possible second to further delay tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from the European Union (EU) for another 30 days.
Another delay was expected because the Trump regime has no end game and doesn't really know what they're doing, but previously unreported details of the regime's talks with the EU tell us they're pursuing something even worse than tariffs.
Officials are reportedly asking to the EU to voluntarily cut exports to the Unites States through quotas.
The Trump administration had been trying to pressure Europe, Canada, Mexico and other nations to renegotiate trading terms in America’s favor, including limiting the flow of foreign metals into the United States, saying that it would grant exclusions to the tariffs for countries that agreed to meet its demands. [...]
In recent weeks, American negotiators have pressed allies to restrain their own metal shipments to the United States voluntarily in exchange for having the tariffs lifted.
“In all of these negotiations, the administration is focused on quotas that will restrain imports, prevent transshipment and protect the national security,” the White House said in its statement Monday evening.
The goal of imposing tariffs or quotas is to increase the value of domestic production but, between the two options, the Trump regime is pursuing the worst one.
Tariffs have a side benefit of flowing into American coffers as revenue whereas quotas do not. Quotas would artificially increase the cost of steel and aluminum with none of the other benefits. Quotas would also indirectly benefit foreign producers who receive payments from their own government in exchange for limiting production.
If this is all sounds needlessly complicated and unnecessary, that's because it is. There are good reasons why protectionism is a dirty word. It doesn't ultimately help anyone.
The good news is it's highly unlikely the EU is going to voluntarily limit production and exports just to please Trump.