Trump Ties Steel and Aluminum Tariffs to NAFTA Renegotiations
President Donald Trump tweeted March 5 that he won't exempt Mexico and Canada from steel and aluminum tariffs unless the U.S. gets its way at the NAFTA negotiating table. The tweets came on the last day of round 7 of the NAFTA talks. "NAFTA, which is under renegotiation right now, has been a bad deal for U.S.A. Massive relocation of companies & jobs. Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum will only come off if new & fair NAFTA agreement is signed. Also, Canada must treat our farmers much better. Highly restrictive. Mexico must do much more on stopping drugs from pouring into the U.S. They have not done what needs to be done. Millions of people addicted and dying," Trump wrote.
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Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, who had previously asked that Canada be pressed to open its markets to U.S. dairy, made a rare public rebuke of the president. "We are extremely worried about the consequences of a trade war and are urging the White House to not advance with this plan," he said through a spokeswoman. "The new tax reform law has boosted the economy and we certainly don't want to jeopardize those gains."
Trump responded to reporters at the White House who noted Ryan's remarks and asked if the administration would back off of tariffs. "No, we're not backing down," Trump said. "We had a very bad deal with Mexico, a very bad deal with Canada -- it’s called NAFTA. Our factories have left our country, our jobs have left our country. For many years, NAFTA’s been a disaster." When services are included, Canada has the trade deficit with the U.S.
Trump said he'd just gotten a call from U.S. NAFTA negotiators in Mexico, who told him Mexico and Canada wanted to talk about the steel and aluminum tariffs. "If they're not going to make a fair NAFTA deal, we're just going to leave it this way," he said, meaning that the Section 232 tariffs would not exempt NAFTA partners. The European Union has also said its metals exports are not a security risk, the rationale for the tariffs. Trump alluded to the EU's threats of retaliation. "And if they want to do something, we'll just tax their cars they send in here like water," he said.
When asked by reporters if this is the beginning of a trade war, he replied: "I don’t think so. I don’t think you're going to have a trade war."