Summary
Trump's 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, including $1 billion from Australia, echo the disastrous 1930 Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act that deepened the Great Depression.
Despite claims that "tariffs are a tax cut for the American people," markets have responded negatively with the Dow Jones falling 10% since February.
Australia has declined to impose retaliatory tariffs, but other nations like Canada and Mexico have responded with their own import taxes.
Economists fear Trump's planned expansion to additional sectors could trigger a global trade war, reversing decades of economic liberalization.