CHINA/STEVE MNUCHIN/TARIFFS/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump, fed up with hearing he was weak on China, assembled his senior trade team at the White House on May 22 and vented, according to officials who were involved. He wanted a tougher approach, including tariffs he could use as a weapon to force trade concessions. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who favored a milder approach, had spent months maneuvering to become the administration’s point person on talks with China. Now, along with his administration rivals, he was getting a dressing down, the officials say. ‘Get moving,’ the president told them. Within 10 days, the U.S. put aside talk of an economic truce with China and said it was preparing to move forward with $50 billion in tariffs on a range of imported products. It told the European Union, Mexico and Canada it would impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and threatened to do the same on imports of autos…The abrupt turn to tariffs, after several weeks during which tensions were easing, was the public manifestation of a tumultuous decision-making process taking place inside the White House on trade, Mr. Trump’s signature economic-policy issue of 2018.”
-Bob Davis, Peter Nicholas and Lingling Wei, “‘Get Moving’: How Trump Ratcheted Up the Trade Battle With China,” The Wall Street Journal, June 7, 2018 10:59 am