Trump set to authorize tariffs
US leader plans to offer a 30-day exemption to Canada, Mexico
WASHINGTON — The White House on Wednesday raised the possibility that impending hefty US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports could exclude a clutch of countries other than Canada and Mexico as US President Donald Trump planned to authorize the measures on Thursday.
Trump was expected to sign a presidential proclamation establishing the tariffs during a ceremony scheduled for 3:30 pm on Thursday, a source familiar with the situation said. Officials were working to include language in the tariffs that would give Trump the flexibility to approve exemptions for certain countries.
The tariffs would impose a duty of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum to counter cheap imports that he says undermine US industry and jobs.
The tariffs would not go into effect immediately, with a twoweek implementation period required under the statute that gives the president authority to impose the measures. That could give countries or companies a chance to submit input and try to sway the administration’s actions, according to the people familiar with the deliberations, The New York Times reported.
It was not immediately clear whether the proclamation would list countries to be exempted as pressure grew for Trump to exclude US allies from the action.
“We expect that the president will sign something by the end of the week and there are potential carve-outs for Mexico and Canada based on national security, and possibly other countries as well based on that process,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told a regular news conference. “It will be country by country, and it will be based on national security.”
NAFTA talks
Action that does not include exemptions risks retaliatory tariffs on US exports — not least by Canada and Europe — and complicates already tough talks on the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Trump said on Monday that Canada and Mexico would only be excluded after the successful renegotiation of NAFTA.
But a White House official said on Wednesday night that Trump plans to offer Canada and Mexico a 30-day exemption from the planned tariffs, which could be extended based on progress in NAFTA talks.
The departure of Trump’s chief economic adviser Gary Cohn, who was seen as a bulwark against Trump’s economic nationalism, clears the way for greater influence by trade hard-liners such as Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Peter Navarro, Trump’s trade policy adviser, and the possibility that the tariffs will be implemented.
In his first tweet on Wednesday, Trump showed no sign of backing down, saying the US had lost more than 55,000 factories and 6 million manufacturing jobs and let its trade deficit soar since the administration of president George H.W. Bush.
The announcement, applauded by US steel and aluminum producers, has triggered widespread concerns and protests from foreign governments, US lawmakers and the business community that will be negatively affected by such tariffs.
The European Union on Wednesday announced a provisional list of US items, ranging from US steel and T-shirts to chewing tobacco and orange juice that it will retaliate against over Trump’s tariffs on EU steel and aluminum.
Cecilia Malmstrom, the EU trade commissioner, told a news conference in Brussels that such a move by the US would “put thousands of European jobs in jeopardy, and it has to be met by a firm and proportionate response”.
US tariffs could cause “drastic consequences” for the German and European steel industry, German Steel Federation warned on Wednesday.