WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump signed two tariff proclamations on Thursday, erecting a 25 percent and 10 percent tariff on steel and aluminium imports respectively.
“A strong steel and aluminium industry are vital to our national security – absolutely vital. Steel is steel, you don’t have steel you don’t have a country,” he said.
The White House estimates that 100,000 jobs have been lost due to “shuttered plants and mills” though Trump said that “millions of workers” have lost employment in the industry.
“This is not merely an economic disaster, but it’s a security disaster we want to build our ships, we want to build our planes … with steel and aluminium from our country. We’re finally taking action to correct this long overdue problem. Today I’m defending America’s national security by placing tariffs on foreign imports of steel and aluminium.”
Canada and Mexico have been exempted from the tariffs as the North American Free-Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is currently undergoing renegotiation.
“If we reach a deal it is most likely that we won’t be charging those two countries the tariffs,” said Trump.
Australia could also be exempt from the tariffs. “We have a very close relationship with Australia, we have a trade surplus with Australia, great country, long-term partner, we’ll be doing something with them,” he said.
The US decision to enforce tariffs comes as 11 nations signed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) without the US on Thursday.
There is considerable disagreement within the Republican Party over the tariff decision and Trump’s senior economic adviser Gary Cohn resigned earlier this week. Close US allies, including European Union (EU) countries, have expressed dismay at the decision as well. There are fears that the steel and aluminium tariffs will spark a trade war and destabilise global trade.
