Global: The 11 member countries of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) (Formerly TPP but now without the United States) signed the new trade agreement in Chile yesterday. 
On the EU side: Theresa May outlined her Brexit intentions during a speech on Friday, in which she noted the UK will face difficulties, but also re-affirming her commitment to a no-border promise for Ireland. After a long period of negotiation and uncertainty, Germany finally has its coalition government, and it is getting to work. The Italian election this Sunday did not bear fruit as no party won with absolute majority, yet proved the rise of anti-establishment sentiment in the region. The populist Five Star Movement swept the most seats in Parliament, while the Northern league surpassed poll expectations, coming in third and defeating Berlusconi’s Forza Italia.
On the US side: President Trump’s announcement of new tariffs sent shockwaves across its trading allies. Yesterday, President Trump formalized the tariffs, temporarily exempting Canada and Mexico. As the latest round of NAFTA negotiations wrapped up Monday, overcast by President Trump’s announcement of steel and aluminum tariffs. President Trump’s top economic adviser Gary Cohn resigned Tuesday, just days after Trump’s announcement of tariffs.

SPOTLIGHT
Shots Fired: EU Takes Aim at Peanut Butter as Trump Targets Steel
Interview with David O’Sullivan, EU Ambassador to the United States
   
In unscripted remarks that caught even his closest advisers off guard, President Trump announced last week that he intends to impose tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum imports. That proposal was criticized across the world and even by members of Trump’s own Republican Party. Nevertheless, Trump has dug in and, in the process, lost his top economic adviser, Gary Cohn. On March 6, Cohn announced his intention to resign.  

How does the EU feel about all this? To find out, Atlantic Council’s Ashish Kumar Sen turned to David O’Sullivan, the EU’s ambassador to the United States. Read the interview here.

“We have said that we reserve our right to impose rebalancing additional tariffs on the United States’ exports of other products if this is done, because we think that this is not compatible with WTO [World Trade Organization] rules.“ – Ambassador David O’Sullivan

For more coverage:
Analysis: Are Trump’s Tariffs Aimed at the WTO? Rachel Ansley, New Atlanticist
Recording: Press Call on Trump’s Tariffs co- hosted by the Atlantic Council and the Georgetown Institute of International Economic Law.
                      
TRADE
Official Statement: Presidential Proclamation on Adjusting Imports of Steel into the United States, The White House 
Statement: European Commission Responds to the US Restrictions on Steel and Aluminium Affecting the EU, European Commission; Press conference with Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström here. 
Op-Ed: Why We Imposed the Metal Tariffs, Wilbur Ross, US Department of Commerce
News: Trump Turns Steel Tariffs Into Nafta Bargaining Chip, Andrew Mayeda, Josh Wingrove, Eric Martin, Bloomberg
Analysis: Why Steel Tariffs Failed When Bush Was President, Doug Palmer, Politico
Analysis: Trump’s Steel and Aluminum Tariffs Are Counterproductive. Here Are 5 More Things You Need to Know, Chad P. Bown, Peterson Institute for International Economics 
News: EU’s Anti-Trump Hit List: Everything Including the Kitchen Sink, Hans von der Burchard & Jakob Hanke, Politico
Analysis: How Trump’s Steel and Aluminum Tariffs Could Affect State Economies, Max Bouchet & Joseph Parilla, Brookings
Opinion: The Trump Metal Tariffs: Pulling Out a Baseball Bat When We Need a Scalpel, Robert D. Atkinson, Information Technology & Innovation Foundation
Analysis: The President’s Steel Tariff: Making Lemonade Out of Lemons, William Reinsch, CSIS 
Opinion: Donald Trump’s Trade Follies Presage More Protectionism, Martin Wolf, Financial Times 
Analysis:A Trade War on the Poor- How a Collapse of the WTO Would Hurt the Worst Off, Amrita Narlikar, Foreign Affairs
Opinion: It’s Time to Develop your Plan B in Case NAFTA is Terminated – Here’s How, Ewan Roy,Trade Ready
Opinion: Don’t You Forget About Me: US is Still Europe’s Most Important Trade Partner, Heidi Obermeyer, Euractive 
News: U.K.’s May Reveals Most Details Yet on Brexit Proposals, Jenny Gross, The Wall Street Journal
Analysis: Theresa May’s Negotiation Strategy Sets the UK On a Course to a Soft – or at Least Softer – Brexit, Dr Benjamin Martill, LSE Blog
News: As China Presents Economic Plan, U.S. Trade Tensions Raise New Risk, Bloomberg
Infographic: The Numbers Behind The World’s Closest Trade Relationship, Jeff Desjardins, Visual Capitalist

TWEET/FACTOID OF THE WEEK

Did you know…that the greatest exporter of steel to the US is Canada at 17%? China is in fact not even in the top 10 greatest steel exporters for the US. Read more here.

GLOBALIZATION
Opinion: This is Why Women Must Play a Greater Role in the Global Economy, World Economic Forum
Speech: The Importance of Being Open – and Fair, Margrethe Vestager, European Commission 
Blog Post: The Struggle to Manage Debt, Christoph Rosenberg, IMF Blog
Infographic: Making Sense of Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, and Blockchain, PWC 
Opinion: Where to Invest for International Diversification, Coryanne Hicks, US News 
Analysis: ‘Splinternet’ to Herald a Trade War for the Ages, Lana Foroohar, Financial Times
Analysis: Global Rules of Digital Trade: Can We Adapt Bordered Regulation for a Borderless World?, Laura Dawson, Canadian Global Affairs Institute
Report: New Research Suggests the Dollar’s Level Drives Trade, The Economist

WHAT WE ARE READING
Recording: Press Call: Europe’s Day of (In)Decision, Atlantic Council
Report: Energy: Driving Force Behind Increasing Female Participation in the Gulf, Bina Hussein, Atlantic Council
Analysis: 10 Facts about American Women in the Workforce, Brookings Institute
Analysis: The Pivotal Role Women Will Play in Saudi Arabia’s Economic Future, Carin Rising, US Chamber of Commerce
Analysis: How the West Got China Wrong, The Economist
Analysis: Russia, the West, and the Coming Age of Global Digital Competition, Alina Polyakova & Spencer Phipps Boyer, Brookings
Analysis: A New Financial Geopolitics?, Foreign Affairs

UPCOMING EVENTS
March 8: Inequality & Opportunity Summit 2018, Aspen Institute
March 9: Sanctions in Trump Era – One Year In, Atlantic Council
March 13: Venezuela’s Oil Industry: Can it Survive?, Atlantic Council
March 22: The Future of Infrastructure Policy Under the Trump Administration: Remarks from Department of Transportation Under Secretary Derek Kan, AEI

Your Newsletter Team:
Marie Kasperek, Associate Director, Global Business & Economics, Atlantic Council
Alexatrini Tsiknia, Intern, Global Business & Economics, Atlantic Council 
Zachary Coles, Intern, Global Business & Economics, Atlantic Council

Please send us suggested news stories, opinion pieces, publications, and upcoming events that you would like us to highlight! Email mkasperek@AtlanticCouncil.org with your ideas and suggestions.

The views expressed in this newsletter and linked external articles and content do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Atlantic Council, its staff, or its sponsors.

© 2018 Atlantic Council

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