Trump tariffs put US jobs under threat, US businesses warn

US President Donald Trump’s new trade policies could potentially trigger a full-blown trade war with former commercial allies that puts 2.6m US jobs at risk, the US Chamber of Commerce warned as it stepped into the debate overnight.

In a rare intervention, America’s largest business group advised the President to cancel his protectionist plans for trade before US workers are affected by them.

Tom Donohue, president and CEO of the business organization, issued the forecast in a memo to the board of director, warning that tariffs against China could cost 134,000 US jobs, steel and aluminum tariffs could cost 470,000 jobs, and tariffs on autos and auto parts could cost 157,000 jobs.

The memo also warned that if the US were to finally withdraw from the NAFTA trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, the move could leave 1.8m Americans without a job on the first year.

"On each of these issues, the Chamber has privately and publicly expressed our concerns to the administration and to Congress about the economic damage that an escalating series of back and forth tariffs would have on our own country," Donohue wrote.

General Motors Chairman and CEO Mary Barra also advised the President against imposing more tariffs and said GM could be forced to scale back production and cut US jobs given the rising costs that will come as a result from the retaliatory tariffs.

On the other hand the European Union also warned the US that Trump will put a tax on the American people and could weaken the country’s economy if he goes ahead with his protectionist trade policies.