Facing GOP blowback, president defends tariff plan

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republican allies of President Donald Trump urged him Monday to back away from his threatened international tariffs, which they fear could spark a trade war. Trump retorted: “We’re not backing down.”

The president said U.S. neighbors Canada and Mexico would not be spared from his plans for special import taxes on steel and aluminum, but he held out the possibility of later exempting the longstanding friends if they agree to better terms for the U.S. in talks aimed at revising the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“We’ve had a very bad deal with Mexico; we’ve had a very bad deal with Canada. It’s called NAFTA,” he declared. Trump spoke shortly after a spokeswoman for Ryan, a Trump ally, said the GOP leader was “extremely worried” that the proposed tariffs would set off a trade war and urged the White House “to not advance with this plan.”

Likewise, Republican leaders of the House Ways and Means Committee circulated a letter opposing Trump’s plan, and GOP congressional leaders suggested they may attempt to prevent the tariffs if the president moves forward.

Trump’s pledge to implement tariffs of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum imports has roiled financial markets and angered foreign allies.

Union leaders and Democratic lawmakers from Rust Belt states have praised the planned tariffs, joining with advocates within the administration, including Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro.

Canada is the United States’ No. 1 foreign supplier of both steel and aluminum. Mexico is the No. 4 supplier for steel and No. 7 for aluminum.

Congressional Republicans say tariffs should be narrow in scope, and they warned that Trump’s effort could hurt the party’s hopes to preserve its majority in the fall elections.

As the president dug in on his position, any potential compromise with foreign trading partners and Republican lawmakers was expected to still include some form of tariffs.

The tariffs will be made official in the next two weeks, White House officials said.