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Title: Trump flip flops on Tariff, exempts Mexico & Canada
Source:
NY Times
URL Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/08/ ... trump-tariff-announcement.html
Published: Mar 8, 2018
Author: PETER BAKER and ANA SWANSON
Post Date: 2018-03-08 19:52:39 by Hondo68
Keywords: maybe Australia later, Steel is steel, Trump, Mexico Canada NAFTA
Views: 2497
Comments: 24
WASHINGTON — President Trump defied opposition from his own party and protests from overseas on Thursday as he signed orders imposing stiff and sweeping new tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. But he sought to soften the impact on America’s closest allies with a more flexible plan than originally envisioned. After a week of furious lobbying and a burst of last-minute internal debates and confusion, Mr. Trump agreed to exempt, for now, Canada and Mexico and held out the possibility of later excluding allies such as Australia. But foreign leaders warned of a trade war that could escalate to other industries and be aimed at American goods. “The actions we are taking today are not a matter of choice; they are a matter of necessity for our security,” Mr. Trump said in a ceremony at the White House where he officially authorized the tariffs, which will go into effect in 15 days. Flanked by a handful of steel and aluminum workers, some wearing coveralls and holding hardhats, Mr. Trump presented his move as a way to rebuild vital industries decimated by foreign competition. “Our factories were left to rot and to rust all over the place; thriving communities turned into ghost towns,” he said. “The workers who poured their souls into building this great nation were betrayed. But that betrayal is now over.” The orders represented Mr. Trump’s most expansive use of federal power to rewrite the rules of global trade since he took office and upended the prevailing consensus on free markets that has largely governed Washington under administrations of both parties for decades. A longtime critic of globalization, Mr. Trump argued that the United States has been ravaged by unfair trading partners. As a result of Mr. Trump’s action, levies on foreign steel will rise by 25 percent and on imported aluminum by 10 percent. Business groups have warned that the impact could be felt across the supply chain as consumers face higher prices for automobiles, appliances and other consumer goods. But Mr. Trump’s aides dismissed such predictions as “fake news” and said most Americans will hardly notice any impact. The United States is the largest steel importer in the world and the order could hit South Korea, China, Japan, Germany, Turkey and Brazil the hardest. Mr. Trump said his tariff orders were tailored to give him the authority to raise or lower levies on a country-by-country basis and add or take countries off the list as he deems appropriate. The potential for an exemption is likely to trigger a tsunami of lobbying and cajoling as foreign governments pressure the White House for a carve-out. The United States imports steel from Japan, Germany, Brazil, South Korea and other nations. In language authorizing the tariffs, the White House said any nation “with which we have a security relationship is welcome to discuss with the United States alternative ways to address the threatened impairment of the national security caused by imports from that country.” The tariffs would be lifted if a country arrives “at a satisfactory alternative means to address the threat,” the order said. Canada and Mexico would be exempt pending discussions with both countries about changes that would address Mr. Trump’s concerns about steel and aluminum and no time limit was imposed on the exclusion, although administration officials said they expect to deal with those two countries in short order. Mr. Trump tied the exclusions to renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which remains bogged down in inconclusive talks, but aides said national security concerns would be important in deciding whether to make the exclusions permanent. Mr. Trump indicated that the tariffs would go into effect on Canada and Mexico “if we don’t make the deal on Nafta and if we terminate Nafta because they are unable to make a deal that’s fair.” During a cabinet meeting earlier in the day, Mr. Trump singled out Australia as an example of another country that could be excluded, citing the trade surplus that the United States maintains with Australia, which imports more from America than it exports to the country. Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, said on Thursday that a plan to impose broad tariffs that hit allies was “dangerous” and could undermine national security. “If you put tariffs against your allies,” Mr. Draghi said at a news conference in Frankfurt, “one wonders who the enemies are.” The president’s comments came after a frenzied and uncertain morning in which administration officials tried to resolve debates and complications that threatened to hold up an order he has been trumpeting for a week. More than 100 Republican lawmakers sent a letter to Mr. Trump on Wednesday imploring him to drop plans for sweeping tariffs. Their letter came a day after Mr. Trump’s chief economic adviser, Gary D. Cohn, announced his resignation after his failure to forestall the president from pursuing tariffs. Senator Ron Johnson, a Republican who represents the Midwestern industrial state of Wisconsin, which was key to Mr. Trump’s Electoral College victory in 2016, said a broad tariff plan would be self-destructive. “If it’s targeted toward China, depending on how it’s tailored, I may not have a problem with it, because that’s where the root cause of the problem is, the gross oversupply within China,” Mr. Johnson said on CNN on Thursday. “But a generalized tariff that would actually harm allies, harm American consumers, by the way, harm American workers that use steel in production, hurting their competitive nature in global markets as well, I’m opposed to that.” There was some bipartisan concurrence on the idea of focusing any tariff plan on China rather than more broadly. “President Trump has identified the right opponent — China — much better than both the Obama and Bush administrations did,” Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic minority leader, said on the floor. “But I would say to you, Mr. President, don’t swing blindly and wildly at our foe, China,” he added. “Establish a well-placed jab at China. Set them back. Let them know we mean business. President Trump ought to rethink his plan so it actually achieves what he says he wants it to achieve.” While many economists have said it is natural for a high-technology, highly developed economy like the United States to evolve away from raw industries, Mr. Trump presented the steel and aluminum sectors in romantic terms, signs of a muscular superpower that has been allowed to atrophy under his predecessors. “Steel is steel,” he said. “You don’t have steel, you don’t have a country.” He invited a few of the steelworkers to make comments and they told stories of plants that have cut back or idled altogether. “These tariffs going into place, this gives us the ability to come back to 100 percent capacity,” one said. The issue has divided Mr. Trump’s own team, however, as more nationalist and protectionist wing led by Wilbur Ross, the commerce secretary, and Peter Navarro, the president’s trade and manufacturing adviser, overcame objections from Wall Street advisers like Mr. Cohn, previously a Goldman Sachs banker. Even national security officials like Defense Secretary Jim Mattis cautioned Mr. Trump about the plan, fearing it would roil relations with key security allies. The consequences of the split were on display at the cabinet meeting earlier in the day when Mr. Trump thanked Mr. Cohn for his service, but needled him about his decision to leave. “He may be a globalist, but I still like him,” the president said as Mr. Cohn sat in a chair along the wall and smiled. “He’s seriously a globalist. There’s no question. You know what? In his own way he’s a nationalist, because he loves his country.” Mr. Trump then suggested that Mr. Cohn might eventually return to the administration. “I have a feeling you’ll be back,” the president told him. In a teasing voice, he added: “I don’t know if I can put him in the same position though. He’s not quite as strong on those tariffs as we want.”
President Trump signed an order imposing stiff and sweeping new tariffs on imported steel and aluminum at the White House on Thursday. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times
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#1. To: hondo68 (#0)
Fuck Cohn, and every other traitor who loves uneven trade deficits. AMERICA FIRST... and F' everyone else. We are happy to trade EVENLY with anyone. Don't like that concept as an American? Move your traitor ass to China I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح
NAFTA First. Make NAFTA Great Again. Or, Belize.
Well, Trump can just hand out these exemptions after the leaders of our allies show up in the Rose Garden to kiss his pinky ring. Then at the end, it's down to only China that gets hit. Trump would love something like that, various leaders groveling to him for tariff exemptions.
American workers thrown under the bus in favor of Mexicans and Canadians. Who's next to take American jobs, are the exemptions for sale?
After a year and a half there is still no sembelence of a stable administration in the White house. It's people in, out, maybe back in, up, down. It's one spoiled kid stirring up other spoiled kids.
Or if he gets bored hanging out at the WH.
Calm yourselves kiddies. ---- He's only just begun.. Have patience, it will get better...
Negative. He has campaign promises HE WILL KEEP... and as his administration pushes against that, he will fire them one at a time. It's how you run a corporation... and I'm glad for the first time, a president (TRUMP) is running my republic like a BUSINESS. AMERICA FIRST... or you're FIRED, Cohn. Keep firing them. I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح
Chronic whiner.
You stick to what you know best, WILLINGLY living within SNOWFLAKE Nazi Mexifornia
I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح
I think Trump should realise that those doing the ravaging were his own multinationals and the avarice of the american industry who could not pass up the opportunities NAFTA afforded american industry
NAFTA was a giant sucking sound of jobs leaving America. Our deficit with Mexico has risen. That was another Clinton attack on America. Along with the loser Republicans.
Donald Trump is a LEADER and a “get ‘er done” person. Trade has far too long been on the backburner and now Trump is forcing it on the front-burner where it belongs. An overhaul of U.S. trade policy had long been an issue lawmakers on Capitol Hill wanted to confront, and it has finally taken Trump's move to impose global duties to force the issue to the top of the agenda. The question now is whether this disruption will force the naysayers to figure out a way to unite with our trading partners and come up with a positive strategy that actually works and is FAIR to the U.S. We need to press forward with solutions and not join in the MSM choral always singing the same old chorus, “Down With Trump.”
You stick to what you know best, WILLINGLY living within SNOWFLAKE Nazi Mexifornia ------ GrandIsland AKA knows you... You chronically whine about all us Californians who constantly fight against our socialist state govt -- (which describes most States govts), -- while you support fascism, a form of socialism.
... pending renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. No "flip flop". Trump has said this from the beginning.
Seems to me that China is the threat the tariff should face. Seems to me that a damaged Mexican economy is a bigger threat to us from a flood of newly unemployed illegal aliens, so we’d best not impose a tariff on them. Seems to me that Canada is part of America for all meaningful purposes, so we should not be erecting barriers to our own cousinage, but shoul Be removing such barriers as there are. The need for passports on the Canadian Border is an absurdity. So, it seems to me that Trump has this right. It would be even better if he just imposed the tariff on China and didn’t create a rift with Europe or Japan. But targeting China by name might be counterproductive for our interests. Seems to me that North Korea’s sudden moves to reconcile and meet, etc., are the result of Trump’s policies.
Hey Dufus how about policies that are fair to everyone, instaed of the US pushing its barrow and trying to change the laws in other countries
MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN !!!
That is a stateement of someone who isn't educated. Change laws in other countries, are you a retard? He has changed no one else's law. What makes you think you have a right to sell to us? It sounds like you are an advocate for antichrists world government.
You should look who the comment was actually directed at.
no That is exactly what happens in free trade negotiations. What do you think happens when free trade agreements are negotiated? When the TPP was negotiated the US insisted on clauses that were favourable to them and which meant legislation would have to be introduced in other countries to change their laws. When the US withdrew, the provisions it wanted and which favoured them were removed and the other 11 countries have gone ahead. When the US negotiated an FTA with us they wanted us to change our pharmeutical benefits scheme so drugs would be more expensive, we refused
Why, wasn't it already great? no you want it to become a great country like ours https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NKukE_6ARY
Mr. Trump then suggested that Mr. Cohn might eventually return to the administration. “I have a feeling you’ll be back,” the president told him. In a teasing voice, he added: “I don’t know if I can put him in the same position though. He’s not quite as strong on those tariffs as we want.”(1 image)
#2. To: Make NAFTA Great Again (#0)
(Edited)
#3. To: GrandIsland (#1)
Move your traitor ass to China ...
#4. To: hondo68 (#0)
#5. To: Tooconservative, Rose Garden exemption auction (#4)
#6. To: hondo68 (#0)
Trump flip flops on Tariff, exempts Mexico & Canada
That's not news. He flip flops on everything depending upon which way the wind is blowing.
#7. To: GrandIsland (#1)
Mr. Trump then suggested that Mr. Cohn might eventually return to the administration. “I have a feeling you’ll be back,” the president told him. In a teasing voice, he added: “I don’t know if I can put him in the same position though. He’s not quite as strong on those tariffs as we want.”
#8. To: rlk (#6)
That's not news. He flip flops on everything depending upon which way the wind is blowing.
#9. To: Tooconservative, rlk, Calm yourselves kiddies. ---- He's only just begun.. (#8)
#10. To: rlk (#7)
(Edited)
It's one spoiled kid stirring up other spoiled kids.
#11. To: rlk (#7)
After a year and a half there is still no sembelence of a stable administration in the White house. It's people in, out, maybe back in, up, down. It's one spoiled kid stirring up other spoiled kids.
#12. To: tpaine (#9)
#13. To: hondo68 (#0)
Mr. Trump argued that the United States has been ravaged by unfair trading partners.
#14. To: paraclete (#13)
(Edited)
#15. To: hondo68 (#0)
You need to thoroughly understand the pivotal role the steel and aluminum industries play in the essential defense munitions and economic security aspects of our country. Trump thoroughly understands this while you and others don’t. Trump is absolutely right in making his decision to use the authority of Sec Section 232 of U.S. law, which gives him absolute authority and the ability to issue tariffs based on national security concerns.
#16. To: GrandIsland, supports fascism, a form of socialism. (#12)
Chronic whiner. ------ A K A Stone
#17. To: hondo68 (#0)
Trump flip flops on Tariff, exempts Mexico & Canada ...
#18. To: hondo68 (#0)
#19. To: Gatlin (#15)
a positive strategy that actually works and is FAIR to the U.S.
#20. To: paraclete (#19)
#21. To: paraclete (#19)
Hey Dufus how about policies that are fair to everyone, instaed of the US pushing its barrow and trying to change the laws in other countries
#22. To: tpaine (#16)
AKA knows you...
#23. To: A K A Stone (#21)
Change laws in other countries, are you a retard?
#24. To: Gatlin (#20)
MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN !!!
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