Countries gear up to build strategies amid tariff tensions

BRUSSELS — With his small steel mill facing hefty US tariffs, Canadian businessman Chris Wyatt is hunting for new European customers at the world's biggest industrial technology fair in Germany.

"There's uncertainty in the markets, so big projects are being shelved or they're just not moving ahead," said sales director Wyatt, handing out flyers at his stand, alongside big players in robotics and factory machinery.

This week's Hannover Messe, a fair that has attracted more than 4,000 exhibitors from around 60 countries, takes place as US President Donald Trump gears up to announce a wave of "reciprocal tariffs", ratcheting up global trade tensions even further.