Trump holds off steel and aluminum tariffs for 30 days
Delay is believed to be because of NAFTA talks between Canada, U.S., and Mexico
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump at the last minute on Monday evening announced he would again postpone imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union, two people familiar with the decision said, pushing off a key economic decision while he tries to prod foreign leaders into making trade-related concessions.
The people said the White House had reached agreements on metals imports with Argentina, Australia, and Brazil, saying more details would be finalized in the next 30 days. The contours of those agreements couldn’t be immediately learned, though the White House had been pushing other nations to agree to quotas on exports to the U.S. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to disclose the White House decision.
Trump has put off a decision on steel and aluminum tariffs with Mexico and Canada because he is trying to gain more access for U.S. businesses to their markets as part of a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Canadian, Mexican and U.S. officials are meeting in Washington this week to discuss the plan.
Trump’s strategy with the European Union is more fluid, as he has praised some countries, such as France, but chastised others, such as Germany, which he says needs to allow U.S. companies more access to consumers.
The late announcement — the tariffs would have kicked in at midnight — are the latest unexpected directive in Trump’s four-month effort to upend the U.S.’s trade relationship with more than a dozen countries. Some countries have received preferential treatment by agreeing to early changes, such as South Korea. Others, such as Japan, have been rebuffed despite repeated overtures from their leaders.
The Administration has reached agreements in principle on the metals trade with Argentina, Australia, and Brazil, details of which will be finalized in the next 30 days. The Administration is also extending negotiations with Canada, Mexico, and the European Union for a final 30 days. The metals negotiations have been a key test of Trump’s trade strategy and diplomacy, pitting his highly personal bargaining style against the determination of major U.S. trade partners and allies to hold fast and retaliate if necessary under World Trade Organization rules. Trump has shown a willingness to both befriend and berate almost every ally and adversary, a dynamic that has played out in the past two months as he has tried to lure many of them into making concessions in exchange for delaying tariffs.
“We are in uncharted territory in terms of trade policy,” said Chad Bown, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute of International Economics. “What President Trump has done is make everything uncertain in trade policy. You don’t know on almost a dayto-day basis what trade policy is going to be and businesses find it very difficult to operate in that kind of environment.”
A high-powered delegation will go to Beijing to hold talks on trade Thursday, the White House announced. The group will include Mnuchin, Ross, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, National Economic Council head Larry Kudlow, and Peter Navarro, assistant to the president for trade and manufacturing policy. U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad will join the group.