President Trump on Thursday blasted weak trade policy for killing jobs in the steel and aluminum industries, signaling that he was preparing to slap tariffs on those imports.
“Our Steel and Aluminum industries (and many others) have been decimated by decades of unfair trade and bad policy with countries from around the world,” he tweeted. “We must not let our country, companies and workers be taken advantage of any longer. We want free, fair and SMART TRADE!”
Mr. Trump was expected to act Thursday on Commerce Department reconditions to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum. However, the announcement was postponed after pushback from top trade advisers, according to multiple reports.
Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross has organized a listening session with steel and aluminum industry leaders, said the White House.
Critics have warned that he would be tempting a trade war, but Mr. Trump insists that he is reversing decades of unilateral surrender to foreign competitors.
The Commerce Department last month recommended tariffs on all imports of steel and aluminum. The recommendation followed a 10-month investigation that determined imports “threaten to impair the national security.”
The report found that U.S. reliance on foreign-produced steel and aluminum, which is often government-subsidized, could compromise national security because those products have crucial military uses.
The report called for a 24 percent tariff on steel exported from all countries and higher tariffs on exports from 12 targeted countries: Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Egypt, India, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Russia, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam.
For aluminum, the report recommended a 7.7 percent tariff on exports from all countries and a 23.6 percent tariff on products from China, Hong Kong, Russia, Venezuela and Vietnam.
The president is required to make a decision on the steel recommendations by April 11 and on the aluminum recommendations by April 19. But he is expected to act swiftly.
Our Steel and Aluminum industries (and many others) have been decimated by decades of unfair trade and bad policy with countries from around the world. We must not let our country, companies and workers be taken advantage of any longer. We want free, fair and SMART TRADE!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 1, 2018
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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