3/22/2018

FOREIGN POLICY/TARIFFS/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The United States trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, said on Thursday [3-22-18] that several American allies would initially be exempt from the steel and aluminum tariffs that are to take effect shortly. Speaking at a meeting of the Senate Finance Committee, Mr. Lighthizer said that the European Union, along with Argentina, Australia, Brazil and South Korea, would be exempted. Canada and Mexico were earlier left off the list of countries subject to the tariffs. His remarks will provide relief for the exempted countries, which have been lobbying hard in recent weeks to win a reprieve from the blanket tariffs, which President Trump’s administration had justified on national security grounds and which had been due to come into effect on Friday. If Mr. Trump decides to exempt all of those countries from the tariffs permanently, he will have given a reprieve to some of the largest foreign suppliers of steel to the United States. In total, the countries Mr. Lighthizer listed, together with Canada and Mexico, account for more than half of the total volume of steel sold to the United States in 2017. That could make the tariffs less helpful to domestic steel mills.”

Jim Tankersley and Jack Ewing, “U.S. Exempts Allies From Steel and Aluminum Tariffs,” The New York Times online, Mar. 22, 2018