Mnuchin defends tariffs
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — President Donald Trump’s plan to hit countries around the world with stiff tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum has dominated a gathering of world economic leaders amid fears that the United States is on the cusp of starting a trade war.
On Monday, Steven Mnuchin, the U.S. Treasury secretary, was peppered with requests from several countries for exemptions from the tariffs, which are being imposed in the name of national security. In a series of what Mnuchin called “direct” conversations with leaders here for the Group of 20 finance ministers meeting, the Treasury secretary defended Trump’s “America First” economic policies, while trying to soothe his counterparts’ concerns.
In an interview on the sidelines of the meeting, Mnuchin suggested exemptions to the tariffs could be announced “relatively quickly.”
“I think we’ve been very transparent in describing our positions; I don’t think anything should be a surprise,” Mnuchin said.
Trump has already said he would exempt Canada and Mexico from the tariffs upon a successful renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, and he has indicated that other countries could also get exemptions. But the U.S. has yet to detail what would qualify a country for an exemption.
Trump administration officials have said that the tariffs are aimed primarily at combating cheap metals from China, which they say are flooding into the U.S. through other countries. The Commerce Department has ruled that those imports pose a threat to national security because they degrade the U.S. industrial base.
Countries including France, Argentina and South Korea pressed Mnuchin on Monday about being freed from the metals tariffs, arguing that, as U.S. allies, they should not be penalized on national security grounds. Mnuchin said that decisions were being made on a case-by-case basis and that there was not a one-size-fits-all approach. The tariffs go into effect Friday.
Mnuchin said he was confident that the U.S. was acting in compliance with the World Trade Organization, and argued that the Trump administration was not trying to start a trade war.