GOP/PAUL RYAN/TARIFFS/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Paul D. Ryan, the Republican House Speaker, criticized President Trump’s proposed steel and aluminum tariffs on Monday [3-5-18], saying they could lead to a damaging trade war…
The statement was a dramatic departure for Mr. Ryan, a top leader in Mr. Trump’s own party, who worked in lockstep with the president to pass a $1.5 trillion tax cut last year. While other Republican lawmakers have come out against the president’s trade action, this was Mr. Ryan’s first public comment since Mr. Trump announced last week that he would impose tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum.
Mr. Trump has shown no sign that he plans to retreat from the trade action. On Monday, he used the tariffs to threaten two of the United States’ closest trading partners, saying in a tweet that the tariffs would only ‘come off’ of Canada and Mexico if a new and ‘fair’ multilateral trade pact was signed.
The statement continued Mr. Trump’s runningTwitter defense of the tariffs, which he has positioned as necessary to help the United States protect itself against foreign competitors. But his administration continues to sow confusion over the breadth, scope and legality of the tariffs on steel and aluminum that Mr. Trump announced last Thursday. The White House has said those tariffs would apply to imports from all countries with no exemptions.”
-Ana Swanson, “Ryan Criticizes Tariff Plan as Trump Issues Nafta Threat,” The New York Times online, Mar. 5, 2018