NEWS, subject to Trumpification: Senior administration official says Canada and Mexico get an immediate tariff exemption, "for now" - subject to discussions about "our security relationship," which includes NAFTA, since “NAFTA is an important part of the security relationship."
The official linking of a tariff on Canada to discussions about "our security relationship" seems to be an attempt to clean up the WTO legal mess Trump may have made by linking it to NAFTA when it's supposed to be about security.
But...they're still also linking it to NAFTA.
But...they're still also linking it to NAFTA.
Trump's apparent decision is a partial victory for Canada - it avoided both 1) the immediate tariffs Trump promised; 2) an exemption specifically linked to a new NAFTA agreement. But 3) it's not the full, final exemption Canada and many Republicans want - there's still a cloud.
During a briefing on the tariffs, a senior administration official who insisted on anonymity repeatedly denounced "fake news"...and also claimed that the tariffs were extremely well-thought-out, well-analyzed and well-vetted, using a consultative "whole of government" approach.
The best part of the briefing was the administration's insistence that it chose a 25% tariff rather than the Commerce-recommended 24% tariff because of additional data analysis and information.
@jonathanvswan reported that Trump simply decided that 25% sounds cooler.
@jonathanvswan reported that Trump simply decided that 25% sounds cooler.
Trump is speaking now, flanked by workers, Pence and Mnuchin. He says he needs to stop the "decimation of entire communities" from unfair trade practices. "That's going to stop," he says. He announces a 25% steel tariff, 10% aluminum tariff.
“You don’t want to pay tax? Bring your plant to the USA. There’s no tax," Trump says. (There...is tax, just no tariff.)
Trump: “The actions we’re taking today are not a matter of choice. They’re a matter of necessity for our security.”
Trump boasts of the impact of his tariffs on washing machines. So far, as far as I can tell, 200 jobs have been added by Whirlpool.
Trump: “Our factories were left to rot and to rust all over the place. Thriving communities turned into ghost towns. ...Not any longer."
Trump: We're open to removing the tariffs on individual countries as long as we can ensure their products don't hurt the security of the U.S. He says he's put Lighthizer in charge of "negotiating with countries" over this.
Trump: We're holding off on these tariffs on Canada and Mexico to see if we can make a deal on NAFTA.
His senior administration official tried to clean up his mess by linking the exemptions to "security," not NAFTA explicitly. Trump then linked them again to NAFTA explicitly.
His senior administration official tried to clean up his mess by linking the exemptions to "security," not NAFTA explicitly. Trump then linked them again to NAFTA explicitly.
Trump repeats two of his favourite false claims: the U.S. has a global trade deficit of $800 billion ($566 billion), a deficit of "at least $500 billion" with China ($375 billion maximum, excluding services trade).
Trump again claims "we're going to be doing a reciprocal tax program," which he keeps saying and which his administration keeps clarifying he is not actually doing at all.
"We're going to be doing a lot of that," he says.
"We're going to be doing a lot of that," he says.
Trump: The countries that treat us worst on trade and on the military are "our 'allies,' as they like to call them."
That's a remarkable, Putin's-dream kind of statement from the American president.
That's a remarkable, Putin's-dream kind of statement from the American president.
"Your father Herman is looking down on you," Trump tells a worker who gave brief remarks. "He's very proud."
"He's still alive," the worker says.
"He's still alive," the worker says.
