The first US lay-offs from Trump’s trade war have begun, as a nail firm gets hammered by tariffs

The first American casualties of US President Donald Trump’s trade war are 60 workers at Mid-Continent Nail, America’s largest nail manufacturer.

They lost their jobs on June 15 at a factory in a part of Missouri that voted overwhelmingly for Trump. The whole company could be out of business by Labour Day on September 3.

This is a potential game changer in Trump’s trade strategy, especially if it marks the start of more companies announcing lay-offs.

On Monday, Harley-Davidson said it will be moving some “production” offshore because of the trade war – Europe hit Harley with a 31 per cent tariff in response to Trump’s steel tariffs on Europe. Harley won’t confirm if jobs are leaving the United States, but the union representing many Harley workers, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, is worried.

The Trump administration has argued that these tariffs will save jobs and that the cost to America will be minor. But now there are real job losses, and human faces to the pain that so many trade experts have been warning about.

The political pressure on Trump to stop the tariffs (especially on America’s allies) is likely to escalate. In Missouri, a state with a close US Senate race, the lay-offs are already becoming a hot election issue. Senator Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, is planning a rally by the nail plant on Friday.