The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday, July 28, edition that last week the United States and the European Union agreed to step back from the brink of imposing mutually punishing tariffs. A Bloomberg dispatch to The Globe reports that omitted from the plan to make a plan is any clue as to ending the most potentially harmful tariffs, those on steel and aluminum. Bloomberg says barring a major shift away from the Trump administration's trade policies, higher prices in lots of things are increasingly likely in the near future. Tariffs that began as a modest gesture to President Donald Trump's political base are slowly spiralling up to be significant impediments to global commerce. Steel prices are up more than 40 per cent since Mr. Trump said on March 1 that he planned to impose a 25-per-cent tariff on steel imports and a 10-per-cent levy on aluminum. That is a significant increase that has yet to be passed through to consumers. However, it will happen and when it does, potential risks to both the stock market and the economy increase dramatically. Melius Research head Scott Davis says, "We're tracking towards the worst relative year for industrials in 20 years."