Bahrain Mirror: The Secretary-General of the Gulf Aluminum Council, Mahmoud Al-Dailami, played down the repercussions of US President Donald Trump's decision to impose a 10% tariff on aluminum imports.

Al-Dailami said in a press statement that the details and repercussions of the step were not yet clear.

The International Monetary Fund warned that US President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports would harm the US economy and US trade partners, while the EU threatened a "strong response" as global equity markets were heavily affected.

The Dubai-based Gulf Aluminum Council is the coordinating party that represents the interests of the aluminum industry in the Gulf region.

Gulf States export around 500,000 tons per year to the US market, around 100,000 tons of which are from Bahrain. The US market is the third largest export market of the Gulf.

In a report on the implications of the economic decision, Moody's Investors Service said that the most affected by this decision will be Bahrain and Canada, adding that global trade relations are expected to deteriorate over the next period and a slowdown to take place in trade activity of Asian countries after the introduction of the new tariffs.

However, the Secretary-General of the Gulf Aluminum Council said that consumers will eventually pay the bill of this increase, pointing out that the American smelters will not be able to meet the needs of the huge US market.

Al-Dailami further stated that the United States needs about 7 million tons, while US smelters produce only 1 million tons a year.

Arabic Version