White House downplays trade- war effects
Administration takes to TV in defense of tariffs
WASHINGTON – The Trump administration downplayed the impact of the president’s planned steel and aluminum tariffs on American consumers Sunday, saying they amount to “a fraction of a penny on a can of beer.”
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said he wasn’t worried about other countries imposing their own tariffs in response. “Retaliation isn’t going to change the price of a can of beer. It isn’t going to change the price of a car. It’s just not going to. It can’t,” he told NBC’s Meet the Press.
In an administration often divided on economic issues between globalist free traders and a more “America First” protectionist wing, it was the nationalists who took center stage on Sunday morning television to defend the actions, which came in a surprise announcement from Trump last week.
Trump met with steel and aluminum companies last week, and appeared to surprise even some members of his own administration when he said he would institute tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum.
“It wasn’t sudden,” Ross said. He noted that Trump campaigned on the issue and ordered the Commerce Department to study the issue almost a year ago. “So with a whole year of preparation, I don’t know why anybody should’ve been so shocked.”
But the markets were shocked, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 420 points Thursday.
One of the unanswered questions is whether the trade proclamation Trump will sign thisweek will contain
“Retaliation isn’t going to change the price of a can of beer. It isn’t going to change the price of a car.” Wilbur Ross Secretary of Commerce
exclusions for specific counties — especially allies.
Peter Navarro, the president’s trade adviser, told Fox News Sunday and CBS’s Face the Nation that there will be exclusions for specific allies.
“This is not a China problem,” said Navarro, an economist who has authored books with titles like The Coming China Wars. Navarro suggested there could be carve outs for specific steel products not made in the U. S. But he said the impact on consumers would be “negligible to nothing.”
The tariffs continued to stoke fears of trade wars among U. S. allies. The European Union announced retaliatory actions Friday against Americanmade motorcycles, jeans and bourbon. And on Sunday, Trump spoke by phone with British Prime Minister Theresa May, who raised “deep concern” about the tariffs, according to the U. K. government.
Trump joked about the tariffs Saturday night in a comedic speech to the Gridiron Club, an exclusive group of Washington journalists.
“Ever sincewe announced our new tariffs, which actually is very popular with people because they’re tired of getting ripped off, many dying American industries have come to the White House asking for protection,” he said. “Unfortunately, I’m sorry, I fear it may be too late for the print media.”