President Trump signed a controversial order implementing heavy tariffs on imported steel and aluminum Thursday, calling the action “a matter of necessity for our security” and saying it would help to revitalize fading American industry.
“Our industries have been targeted for years and years—decades, in fact—by unfair foreign trade practices leading to shuttered plants and mills, the laying off of millions of workers and the decimation of entire communities,” Trump said. “That’s going to stop.”
But Trump also seemed to leave the door open for certain forms of compromise, saying the United States would remain “flexible” toward its trading allies.
“We have to protect and build our steel and aluminum industries while at the same time showing great flexibility and cooperation toward those that are really friends of ours, both on a trade basis and a military basis,” Trump said.
The order slaps tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from any foreign country, with the exception of Canada and Mexico, which the order says will remain exempt “at least at this time.” During the signing, Trump made it clear that America will continue to exempt Canada and Mexico only if the the countries find a way to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement to Trump’s satisfaction.
The order also ostensibly provides room for America’s other allies to sue for exemption if they can demonstrate “alternative ways to address the threatened impairment of the national security.” Further, it authorizes Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to issue exemptions “for any steel article determined not to be produced in the United States in a sufficient and reasonably available amount or of a satisfactory quality.”
The White House has justified its action on tariffs by making use of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which allows the executive branch to make implement tariffs unilaterally if doing so is a matter of national security. The administration has argued that America’s reliance on foreign aluminum and steel has caused atrophy among domestic manufacturers, which they say could leave us unable to meet our national security needs in the event of a war.
In his own remarks, however, Trump focused on the economic impact of the action, drawing on his campaign-era rhetoric about tariffs to decry existing U.S. trade deals.
“Many of the countries that treat us the worst on trade and on military are our allies—as they like to call them,” Trump said. “We want everything to be reciprocal. And I think in the end we’re going to have a lot of great jobs, could have a lot of great companies all coming back into our country.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan, who has repeatedly expressed his displeasure with the proposed tariffs, said in a statement that he disagreed with the action. But he refrained from calling on Congress to pass a law overruling the move, instead urging Trump “to narrow this policy so that it is focused only on those countries and practices that violate trade law.”
“I am pleased that the president has listened to those who share my concerns and included an exemption for some American allies, but it should go further,” Ryan said. “There are unquestionably bad trade practices by nations like China, but the better approach is targeted enforcement against those practices. Our economy and our national security are strengthened by fostering free trade with our allies and promoting the rule of law.”
