NAFTA/TARIFFS/TRADE DEALS/TREASURY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs may not apply to Canada and Mexico as the U.S. negotiates deals with those countries, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday [3-6-18].
Testifying at a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing, Mnuchin faced increasing opposition from fellow Republicans to the president’s tariff proposals announced last week… On Monday night, Trump spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about NAFTA, and the White House said Trump supports an agreement that is ‘fair to all three countries,’ but the current deal leaves the U.S. with a ‘trade deficit.’ Trump had also tweeted Monday morning that the ‘Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum will only come off if new & fair NAFTA agreement is signed.’
Trump has proposed tariffs of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum, angering many U.S. allies and frustrating even some members of his own political party. The head of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said Tuesday that Trump and other world leaders should use a global forum to tackle steel excess capacity rather than imposing tariffs…
However, many close trading partners, including the European Union, have promised swift retaliatory measures if Trump imposes across-the-board tariffs on all nations.”
-Patrick Temple-West, “Mnuchin: Canada, Mexico likely exempted from tariffs,” Politico, Mar. 6, 2018 12:29pm