President Donald Trump's proclamations on the latest extensions to country exemptions on the Section 232 tariffs (see 1804300064) will be published in the Federal Register on May 7. The proclamations on steel and on aluminum say that while Canada, Mexico and the European Union face a June 1 deadline to agree to "satisfactory alternative means" to ameliorate the national security threat their imports cause, Australia, Brazil and Argentina do not have an expiration date on their exemptions. The president said since those countries have reached agreements in principle, he didn't think a deadline was necessary. But if those agreements are not finalized promptly, he reserves the right to impose tariffs.

President Donald Trump told reporters April 24 that he wishes he could make a trade deal just with France, because trade with the European Union "has been unfair for a long time," but that his Cabinet is negotiating with the EU around the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum. On NAFTA, Trump said, "NAFTA as you know is moving along. We're doing very nicely with NAFTA. We could make a deal very quickly, but I'm not sure that's in the best interest of the United States. We'll see what happens."

Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, on April 17 downplayed the possibility of the U.S. rejoining the Trans-Pacific Partnership, telling reporters it is "more of a thought than a policy" at this point, according to a Bloomberg report (see 1804120027). President Donald Trump previously asked Kudlow to take the lead on re-entering the TPP. Trump later tweeted his dislike of the deal, which he exited on his third day in office in 2017. "While Japan and South Korea would like us to go back into TPP, I don’t like the deal for the United States. Too many contingencies and no way to get out if it doesn’t work. Bilateral deals are far more efficient, profitable and better for OUR workers. Look how bad WTO is to U.S." South Korea is not one of the 11 countries currently in the TPP.

President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that NAFTA negotiations are going great, and while he also said "we're pretty close to a deal," he dismissed talk that the U.S. is pushing to reach a tentative agreement in early May. "It could be three or four weeks, it could be two months it could be five months, I don’t care,” Bloomberg quoted him saying on April 12. “So the narrative of I’m pushing for a deal -- I never push for a deal. I don’t care. In fact, if everybody in this room closed their ears I’d say that I’d rather terminate NAFTA and do a brand new deal but I’m not going to do that because I’d rather everybody to be happy in this room, okay?"

Even though officials have trumpeted the rewrite of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) as historic and a win, President Donald Trump said in Ohio that he may hold back on signing it until talks with North Korea are held. The March 29 speech was supposed to be about infrastructure, but Trump spent at least half the time talking about other subjects, including trade.

The spending bill that covers the rest of the fiscal year, through Sept. 30, became law March 23, bringing with it a renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences (see 1803010003). At the bill-signing news conference, President Donald Trump railed against the omnibus, saying, "there are a lot of things I'm unhappy about in this bill. I will never sign another bill like this again."

President Donald Trump, speaking to the press about signing the omnibus spending package for fiscal year 2018, opened by talking about negotiations with allies about exemptions from Section 232 tariffs on aluminum and steel. "Some tremendous trade deals are being made with various countries. We're negotiating very long very hard, but very quickly," he said. "The deal with South Korea, according to [Commerce] Secretary [Wilbur] Ross and [U.S. Trade Representative] Bob Lighthizer is very close to being finished, and we're going to have a wonderful deal with a wonderful ally." He said the U.S.-Korean Free Trade Agreement, or KORUS, as originally implemented "was a deal that was causing a lot of problems for our country with employment."

Wal-Mart, Macy's, Target and 23 other retailers and apparel brands sent a letter March 19 to the White House asking that broadly applied tariffs not be part of the Section 301 solution to Chinese intellectual property theft and investment restrictions. "Families shopping in our stores pay higher prices because America already levies import taxes as much as 32 and 67 percent on basic clothes and shoes," the companies said in the letter. "Applying any additional broad-based tariff as part of a Section 301 action would worsen this inequity and punish American working families with higher prices on household basics like clothing, shoes, electronics, and home goods.... As you continue to investigate harmful technology and intellectual property practices, we ask that any remedy carefully consider the impact on consumer prices."

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said that Mexico, Canada and other countries may avoid the soon-to-be-announced tariffs on steel and aluminum. "There are potential carve-outs for Mexico and Canada based on national security, and possibly other countries as well based on that process," she said during a March 7 press briefing. President Donald Trump is still expected to "sign something by the end of the week," she said.

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.