Trump not backing down on tariffs

US:

President Donald Trump insists he is “not backing down” on his plan to impose stiff tariffs on imported steel and aluminium despite warnings of a possible trade war.

The president said North American neighbours Canada and Mexico would not get any relief from his plan to place the tariffs on the imports.

PRESIDENT DONALD Trump insists he is “not backing down” on his plan to impose stiff tariffs on imported steel and aluminium despite anxious warnings from House Speaker Paul Ryan and other congressional Republicans of a possible trade war.

The president said North American neighbours Canada and Mexico would not get any relief from his plan to place the tariffs on the imports but suggested he might be willing to exempt the two longstanding allies if they agreed to better terms for the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“No, we’re not backing down,” Trump said in the Oval Office, seated with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “We’ve had a very bad deal with Mexico, we’ve had a very bad deal with Canada – it’s called NAFTA,” Mr Trump said.

The president opened the door to exempting the two countries from the planned tariffs, telling reporters: “That would be, I would imagine, one of the points that we’ll negotiate.”

But he added: “If they aren’t going to make a fair NAFTA deal, we’re just going to leave it this way.”

Mr Trump spoke shortly after a spokeswoman for House Speaker Ryan said the GOP leader was “extremely worried” about the tariffs setting off a trade war and had urged the White House “to not advance with this plan”.

Republican leaders of the House Ways and Means Committee, meanwhile, circulated a letter opposing Trump’s tariff plan.

The administration says the tariffs are necessary to preserve the American industries – and that imposing them is a national security imperative.

Mr Trump has threatened to tax European cars if the EU boosts tariffs on American products in response to the president’s plan to increase duties on steel and aluminium.

Prime Minister Theresa May raised her “deep concern” at the tariff announcement in a phone call with Trump on Sunday.

Mrs May’s office says she noted that multilateral action was the only way to resolve the problem of global overcapacity.”

Earlier Mr Trump’s announcement to impose tariffs on metal was met with confusion by leading figures in the car industry.

Jaguar Land Rover’s UK managing director Jeremy Hicks said the president’s statement took the luxury car manufacturer by surprise.

America is one of Jaguar Land Rover’s biggest export markets and a tariff could cause significant issues for the brand.

“We’ll have to wait and see,” said Mr Hicks. “It’s interesting. Like everyone else, we don’t know. Clearly America is a really important market for us, as it is for everyone else.”

Andy Barratt, UK chairman and managing director of Ford of Britain, described the president’s statement as a “Trumpism”.

Clearly America is a really important market for us Jeremy Hicks of Jaguar Land Rover.