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Austrian steel maker rethinks US investments after President Trump imposes tariffs

Austrian steel firm Voestalpine said on Friday it would reconsider its investments in the United States in light of President Donald Trump imposing tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.

Austrian steel maker rethinks US investments after President Trump imposes tariffs
Voestalpine's headquarters in Linz. Photo: Jo Feichtinger

“Despite the limited impact of the punitive tariffs on our group, the current actions of the US administration have led us to critically examine whether all our plans for further investments in North America are economically and politically sensible,” Voestalpine chief executive Wolfgang Eder said in a statement.

Voestalpine noted it had invested $1.4 billion (€1.1 billion) in the US in recent years, creating 3,000 jobs.

Its 49 sites in the country generated €1.2 billion in revenue last year, and the company said that most of its sales in the United States would not be impacted by the tariffs.

The company which recorded €11.3 billion in sales in its 2016-2017 financial year estimated that only three percent of its overall revenue will be impacted by the tariffs.

The products to be most affected by the tariffs are high-tech steel products which Voestalpine said are largely or completely unavailable in the United States from other suppliers.

It pointed to steel strip used by automobile manufacturers and seamless tubes that are processed in the United States for use in oil and gas exploration.

AMBASSADOR

Trump’s ambassador to Denmark leaves country as president’s term ends

After three years as United States Ambassador to Denmark, Carla Sands has stepped down from the post and left Copenhagen.

Trump’s ambassador to Denmark leaves country as president’s term ends
Outgoing United States Ambassador to Denmark Carla Sands. Photo: Philip Davali/Ritzau Scanpix

The now-former ambassador confirmed she had taken leave of the Danish capital via Twitter.

US president Donald Trump’s term ends on Wednesday, with President-elect Joe Biden to be inaugurated at 6pm Danish time.

“It's been a privilege serving the Trump Administration for over 3 years as U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark. I’ve enjoyed promoting USA-Denmark-Faroe Islands-Greenland relations,” Sands tweeted.

“I have departed Copenhagen,” she added in a follow-up tweet.

In a video included in the tweets, Sands mentions her highlights of her time as ambassador. These include the re-opening of the US consulate in Greenland capital Nuuk alongside US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Sands, who took over as ambassador in 2017 after being appointed by Trump, is likely to be remembered as the incumbent at the time of Trump’s overtures towards purchasing Greenland, an autonomous territory within the Danish kingdom.

After Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen dismissed Trump’s suggestion that the United States could buy the Arctic territory from Denmark, the US president promptly cancelled an official visit to Denmark scheduled for September 2019.

Sands met with the Danish government on several occasions in an attempt to take the heat out of a potential diplomatic dispute.

READ ALSO: Danes pour scorn on Trump after state visit postponement

More recently, Sands was criticised for tweeting an incorrect claim that her own vote had not been counted in the country's general election.

The ambassador posted on her personal Twitter account a screenshot which she claimed showed her absentee ballot in the state of Pennsylvania had not been registered. She also made several other posts on the site following the US election in support of Trump's baseless claims of election fraud.

Several other Twitter users – as well as the New York Times – looked up Sands' vote on the Pennsylvania state government website and found it was in fact registered.

READ ALSO: US ambassador to Denmark makes incorrect Twitter claim about own vote

After a mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building in Washington DC on January 6th, Sands was officially contacted by foreign minister Jeppe Kofod. The minister called for Trump to concede defeat in the election and ensure a peaceful transition of power.

Newspaper Berlingske reported that this was the first time in history that a Danish foreign minister had officially protested over internal affairs in the United States.

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