The President's Daily Brief
March 13th, 2025: Global Tariff War Escalates & Russia Responds To US Ceasefire Proposal
Thu, 13 Mar 2025
In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: First up, the trade war is now escalating worldwide, as Canada hits the U.S. with a 25 percent reciprocal tariff on steel and aluminum products, while the European Union vows to raise tariffs on up to $28 billion worth of U.S. goods. Later in the show, the Kremlin has issued their first response to a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, saying they are awaiting details from the Trump administration, while stressing that their territorial gains must be addressed as part of any deal. Plus, the captain of a cargo ship involved in a catastrophic collision with a US-flagged tanker in the North Sea has been arrested by British authorities. A criminal investigation has been opened, and the captain, a Russian national, is being probed for manslaughter over the deadly incident. In our 'Back of the Brief' segment, hundreds of hostages have been freed by Pakistani security forces after separatist militants wearing suicide vests hijacked a passenger train on Tuesday in an attack that left dozens of people dead. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: What is the current status of the global tariff war?
It's Thursday, the 13th of March. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. We'll start off with tariffs and the trade war. Perhaps you've heard about it. Well, the trade war is now escalating worldwide as Canada hits the U.S.
with a 25% reciprocal tariff on steel and aluminum products, while the European Union vows to raise tariffs on up to $28 billion worth of U.S. goods. It's a veritable tariff palooza. Later in the show, the Kremlin has issued their first response to a U.S.
proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, saying that they're waiting for details from the Trump administration, while stressing that their territorial gains must be addressed as part of any deal. Plus, the captain of a cargo ship involved in a catastrophic collision with a U.S. flag tanker in the North Sea has been arrested by British authorities.
The tanker, by the way, was loaded to the gills with U.S. military jet fuel. A criminal investigation has been opened and the captain, a Russian national, is being probed for manslaughter over the deadly incident.
And in today's Back of the Brief, hundreds of hostages have been freed by Pakistani security forces after separatist militants wearing suicide vests hijacked a passenger train on Tuesday in an attack that left dozens of people dead. But first, today's PDB Spotlight.
President Trump's trade war is once again escalating as allies retaliate, and the president threatens new tariffs, sparking fears that a global recession could be looming. As we discussed on yesterday's PDB, the Trump administration imposed a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum from Canada and all other U.S.
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Chapter 2: How is Canada responding to U.S. tariffs?
trading partners on Wednesday over what the president argues are severe trade imbalances with U.S. allies that are undercutting American businesses and workers. Just hours after the new levies took effect, Canada struck back by imposing a 25% reciprocal tariff on U.S.
steel and aluminum products, as well as on machine tools, computers and servers, display monitors, sports equipment, and cast iron products. In total, Canada's retaliatory economic measures cover some $20 billion worth of American goods, and that's according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
The economic tit-for-tat promises to have far-reaching consequences for the price of everyday goods, as Canada serves as the largest foreign supplier of steel and aluminum to the U.S. Last year, the U.S. imported some 3.2 million tons of aluminum from Canada, valued at roughly $16 billion and roughly $20 billion worth of steel.
Canada's finance minister, Dominique LeBlanc, issued a condemnation of President Trump's tariff blitzkrieg, which began in earnest last week, saying, quote, We will not stand idly by while our iconic steel and aluminum industries are being unfairly targeted, end quote. Shortly after Canada hit back, officials in the European Union announced their own economic retaliation.
Chapter 3: What are the implications of the EU's counter-tariffs?
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the 27-member bloc would impose counter-tariffs on $28 billion worth of U.S. goods beginning on the 1st of April, which will cover a laundry list of items, including American beef, poultry, bourbon, bourbon, seriously, not a tariff on bourbon, motorcycles, peanut butter, and jeans.
If implemented, the tariffs will cost impacted companies billions of dollars, a financial hit that they'll most likely pass along to consumers in the form of higher prices in both the U.S. and EU. We should note, however, that these products account for a relatively small portion of the giant EU-U.S.
commercial relationship, though the liquor industry warned that their sector will suffer, quote, devastating financial consequences. von der Leyen said Wednesday, quote, we deeply regret this measure. Tariffs are taxes. They're bad for business and even worse for consumers, end quote. But she stressed that the EU is eager to resume trade negotiations with the U.S.
to find a mutually beneficial solution and avoid further economic retaliation. von der Leyen added, quote, We firmly believe that in a world fraught with geopolitical and economic uncertainties, it's not in our common interest to burden our economies with tariffs, end quote.
The American Chamber of Commerce to the EU endorsed her sentiments, urging the Trump administration to de-escalate and find a negotiated outcome as soon as possible. They said the intensifying tariff war will only serve to hurt consumers and stifle job growth on both sides of the Atlantic. But President Trump, well, doesn't appear to be in a conciliatory mood.
He quickly hit back on Wednesday, threatening even more duties if the EU follows through with their tariffs come the first of April. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said, quote, whatever they charge us, we're charging them, end quote.
Britain was the only outlier in this tariff tit-for-tat, and note that I have used the term tit-for-tat twice now in today's PDB, as they take a more cautious approach to the escalating trade war, according to a report from the BBC.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Wednesday that while he was disappointed by Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs, he does not plan to retaliate just yet, instead advocating for a more pragmatic response. He said he was hoping to negotiate a new trade deal with the Trump administration that includes tariff exemptions to avoid any potential economic fallout.
Still, he stressed that the UK will, quote, keep all options on the table. Zooming out, the uncertainty over tariffs is raising fears about the looming risk of recession. A stock sell-off since the beginning of March has wiped out nearly all the gains made in the aftermath of Trump's victory in the November presidential election. And J.P.
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Chapter 4: What is Russia's reaction to the U.S. ceasefire proposal?
Ten deficiencies were sighted, ranging from defective fire doors to malfunctioning alarms. A follow-up inspection in Scotland in October uncovered additional issues, yet the ship was still allowed to operate. That history is now central to the investigation. Experts are questioning how, in an era of advanced navigation technology, such a catastrophic collision could even occur.
Martin Boyers, chief executive of a neighboring port, called the crash inexplicable, telling CNN, "...it seems a mystery. All the vessels now have very highly sophisticated technical equipment to plot courses and to look at any obstacles or anything they've got to avoid." The UK's Marine Accident Investigation Branch is leading the probe, working alongside American and Portuguese authorities.
All right, coming up in the back of the brief, hundreds of hostages have been freed by Pakistani security forces after separatist militants wearing suicide vests hijacked a passenger train on Tuesday in an attack that left dozens of people dead. We'll have those details next.
In today's Back of the Brief, we take you to Pakistan, where security forces stormed a train on Wednesday that had been hijacked the previous day by separatist militants, killing all 33 attackers and ending a deadly two-day hostage standoff.
The train came under siege on Tuesday in the isolated mountains of the country's Balochistan province by dozens of members of the Baloch Liberation Army, or the BLA.
Officials described it as one of the deadliest militant assaults Pakistan has seen in years, claiming the lives of at least 21 hostages and four security soldiers, though we should stress that due to the remote location, casualty reports currently vary widely.
According to a report from Reuters, on Tuesday, the BLA militants blew up the railway tracks with rockets and began firing on the train, the Jafar Express, which was carrying more than 400 passengers, including at least 150 members of Pakistan's security forces. After forcing the train to a stop, dozens of militants wearing suicide vests stormed the train.
While some passengers managed to flee during the chaos, the BLA took hundreds hostage, reportedly threatening to blow up the train with a rocket launcher if the hostages did not comply. From there, the details of the standoff become, well, muddy. Reporters said this is partly due to the poor cell phone service in the remote area where the attack occurred.
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Chapter 5: What challenges are faced in achieving a ceasefire in Ukraine?
Chapter 6: How are U.S. steel producers reacting to the tariffs?
Chapter 7: What are the recent developments regarding the cargo ship incident?
flag tanker, setting both vessels ablaze and triggering national security concerns due to the ship's history of failed safety inspections. Now, here's the background. On Monday, the Portuguese-flagged Salong cargo ship slammed into the Stena Immaculate, that's a nearly 600-foot U.S.-registered tanker, while it was anchored about 10 miles off the English coast.
The tanker, again, was anchored, not moving, just bobbing there, all 600 feet of it. Now, I'm not a ship's captain, but you would think it might not be that hard to avoid hitting an anchored 600-foot tanker. And on board the Stena Immaculate? Well, 220,000 barrels of aviation fuel designated for U.S. military operations.
The impact triggered a fireball that engulfed both vessels, forcing the British Coast Guard into a large-scale rescue operation. While responders managed to extinguish the flames on the Stena Immaculate by Tuesday, the Salong remained ablaze until Wednesday afternoon.
One Salon crew member is presumed dead after search efforts were called off on Monday, while the remaining 13 crew members were rescued, alongside all 23 that were aboard the Stena Immaculate. In the wake of the disaster, British police arrested the Salong's 59-year-old captain on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.
Yeah, gross negligence would seem to fit, though formal charges have yet to be filed. Ernest Russ, the German company that owns the vessel, confirmed that the captain is a Russian national, while the ship's 14-person crew was composed of Russian and Filipino nationals.
While British authorities have stated there's no immediate evidence of foul play, the incident is under heightened scrutiny due to the Stena Immaculate's role in U.S. military logistics. Managed by U.S. firm Crowley, the vessel is part of the Pentagon's tanker security program. It's a fleet of commercial ships contracted to supply fuel for the military during times of need.
And here's where it gets even more troubling. Port inspection records show that the Salong was a ticking time bomb. A July inspection in Dublin flagged multiple steering-related deficiencies, including unreadable emergency steering position communications and faulty compass readings. Again, not a ship captain, but you would think that steering and navigational tools would seem to be important.
Ten deficiencies were sighted, ranging from defective fire doors to malfunctioning alarms. A follow-up inspection in Scotland in October uncovered additional issues, yet the ship was still allowed to operate. That history is now central to the investigation. Experts are questioning how, in an era of advanced navigation technology, such a catastrophic collision could even occur.
Martin Boyers, chief executive of a neighboring port, called the crash inexplicable, telling CNN, "...it seems a mystery. All the vessels now have very highly sophisticated technical equipment to plot courses and to look at any obstacles or anything they've got to avoid." The UK's Marine Accident Investigation Branch is leading the probe, working alongside American and Portuguese authorities.
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