President Trump’s threats are carrying more weight after his moves against Canada, Mexico and China. Europe has been preparing for the possibility of a trade war for months.

President Donald Trump's move to impose or threaten massive tariffs against China, Mexico, Canada and the European Union affect about $2 trillion worth of U.S. imports and have the potential to disrupt business for major Cincinnati companies that rely on foreign goods or that sell goods overseas.

Some of the purported concessions that led to a 30-day pause on the tariffs were things Canada and Mexico had already done before Trump’s threat, but it’s complicated.

"Tariffs are a negative in respect of economic development," Ireland's Taoiseach said as President Trump vows to place tariffs on the EU.

One of the justifications Trump has given for imposing tariffs on countries is they have a trade surplus with the US - in other words they sell more to the US than they import from America. He has claimed these trade surpluses amount to "massive subsidies that we're giving to Canada and to Mexico".

In separate negotiations, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum have agreed with U.S. President Donald Trump to pause planned tariffs for at least a month. Trump’s tariffs against China are still slated to go into effect on Tuesday.

Tariffs on the three largest trading partners of the U.S. will affect much of what Americans consume. The post Breaking down Trump’s tariffs appeared first on FreightWaves.