President Trump said Monday he has no plans to back away from imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to the U.S., despite drawing heavy bipartisan criticism following his announcement last week.
“No, we’re not backing down,” Trump told reporters during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “Our factories have left our country. Our jobs have left our country. For many years, NAFTA has been a disaster.”
Echoing a tweet he sent earlier Monday morning, the president said a satisfactory renegotiation of the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement could prevent his administration from punishing Canada and Mexico with tariffs.
“If I do make a deal, which is fair for American workers, that would be… one of the points that would be negotiated – tariffs on steel and aluminum,” he said. “If they aren’t going to make a fair NAFTA deal, we’re just going to leave it this way.”
During a meeting with industry executives last week, Trump abruptly announced that his administration plans to institute 25 and 10 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum, respectively, to benefit U.S. manufacturers. His announcement came days after Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross recommended in a lengthy report that Trump implement steep tariffs on countries like Mexico, China, and Russia to boost demand for American-made metals and protect U.S. national security.
“We may have friends, but remember this: we lost over the last number of years $800 billion a year,” Trump said Monday. “We got to get it back. How previous presidents allowed that to happen is disgraceful.”
Several Republican and Democratic lawmakers have come out against the president’s proposal, claiming it will lead to a trade war that could severely harm U.S. exports. Trump responded to such criticism last week, arguing in a tweet that “trade wars are good and easy to win.”
“I don’t think you’re going to have a trade war,” he said Monday.
