Many recoil as Trump gets his tariffs
Ill effects predicted for U.S. farmers, exporters; legal challenges expected from China, Brazil, E. U.
Washington — President Donald Trump on Thursday said he will impose punishing tariffs on imported steel and aluminum in a major escalation of his “America First” trade offensive, defying Republican congressional leaders, inviting retaliation by U.S. trading partners and shaking the stock market.
Speaking at the White House, the president said he had decided to levy tariffs of 25 percent on foreign-made steel and 10 percent on aluminum.
“We’ll be imposing tariffs on steel imports and tariffs on aluminum imports, and you’re going to see a lot of good things happen,” Trump said. “You’re going to see expansions of the companies.”
Trump’s move, under a little-used national security provision of U.S. trade law, is expected to trigger legal challenges by China, the European Union and Brazil at the World Trade Organization. It also prompted predictions that it will backfire on American farmers and other exporters.
“It’s pretty much our worst fears,” said Rufus Yerxa, president of the National Foreign Trade Council, which represents multinationals such as Microsoft and Caterpillar. “This is a pretty clear indication that the Trump administration cares more about the old economy than it does the new economy.”
Trump’s statement followed hours of drama and confusion. The president initially planned a formal announcement for Thursday morning, canceled it amid pushback from opponents, and then finally disclosed the new trade barriers after meeting with 15 industry executives.
“People have no idea how badly our country has been mistreated,” Trump said. “... We’re bringing it all back.”
Canada, one of the United States’ closest allies, blasted the step as “absolutely unacceptable” and vowed to respond when the levies take effect.
Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, dismissed Trump’s national security justification and said the tariffs were “a blatant intervention to protect U.S. do-
“People have no idea how badly our country has been mistreated . . . We’re bringing it all back.” PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP
mestic industry.”
He added, “We will not sit idly while our industry is hit with unfair measures that put thousands of European jobs at risk.”
Investors appeared shaken by the news. The Dow Jones industrial average sank 586 points, a loss of more than 2 percent, in early-afternoon trading before closing off 420 points.
Trump’s tariff jab scrambled political lines, drawing condemnations from Republicans and conservative groups while earning applause from some Democrats.
“This welcome action is long overdue for shuttered steel plants across Ohio and steelworkers who live in fear that their jobs will be the next victims of Chinese cheating,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. “If we fail to stand up for steel jobs today, China will come after other jobs up and down the supply chain tomorrow.”
For months, leading Republicans have trooped to the White House in the hopes of persuading Trump not to implement his plans to tear up trade agreements and levy tariffs on foreign goods. The president has listened in recent weeks, stressing hopes of negotiating an improved North American Free Trade Agreement rather than quitting the existing deal.
But on Thursday he highlighted the wide gap between his nationalist economic views and the traditionally pro-trade Republican mainstream, going beyond the toughest of the three options he had been presented.
“The President is proposing a massive tax increase on American families. Protectionism is weak, not strong,” Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said in a statement. “You’d expect a policy this bad from a leftist administration, not a supposedly Republican one.”
Sen. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., in a statement, called the president’s decision “a big mistake that will increase costs on American consumers, cost our country jobs, and invite retaliation from other countries.”
Adam Brandon, president of the conservative group FreedomWorks, warned that new trade taxes “could be a lethal blow to all the economic success this administration has ushered in.”
The core of the problem for steel and aluminum producers is massive excess capacity in China. Annual excess steel production globally last year was 700 million tons, or more than seven times U.S. consumption.
All that surplus steel creates a buyer’s market and depresses prices, the Commerce Department said in recommending import limits.
In a slap at China, Trump announced the tariffs even as a top Chinese economic official was in Washington for talks aimed at forestalling a possible trade war.
“This welcome action is long overdue for shuttered steel plants across Ohio and steelworkers who live in fear that their jobs will be the next victims of Chinese cheating.” SEN. SHERROD BROWN, D-OHIO “It’s pretty much our worst fears. This is a pretty clear indication that the Trump administration cares more about the old economy than it does the new economy.” RUFUS YERXA, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL FOREIGN TRADE COUNCIL