Trump faces pushback on tariffs
Leading Republicans urge president not to hit allies
US President Donald Trump faced growing pressure on Monday from political and diplomatic allies as well as US companies as they urged him to pull back from proposed steel and aluminum tariffs. But Trump said he would stick to his guns.
Inside the White House, there still appeared to be confusion about the timing and extent of the planned tariffs, which would hit allies like Canada and Mexico hard.
Efforts by Trump and US trade negotiators to link the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) pact talks to the duties received short shrift from Ottawa and Mexico City.
Leading Republicans turned up the pressure on Trump, with House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan leading the charge. Ryan’s home state of Wisconsin would be hit by proposed European counter-measures on Harley-Davidson Inc motorbikes.
Representative Kevin Brady, another top House Republican, called on Trump not to hit America’s closest allies.
Business leaders are pressing for a meeting with Trump to brief him on the negative repercussions of the tariffs on companies that use steel and aluminum, a source familiar with the matter said.
A meeting has not yet been set up, the source said. The White House had no comment.
The planned tariffs have roiled world stock markets as investors worry about the prospect of an escalating trade war that would derail global economic growth. Stocks across the globe rose on Monday, as investors saw the tariff threats as a US negotiating tactic and not a done deal and as pressure grew on Trump to back off.
But Trump said during a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that “we’re not backing down.”
“I don’t think you’re going to have a trade war,” he added, without elaborating.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Trump on Monday to tell him that the tariffs would be an impediment to talks on updating NAFTA.
Most responses to Trump’s proposed tariffs have been targeted. The EU said the bloc would hit Harleys, bourbon and jeans, iconic US goods.