U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday looked set to authorise steep tariffs on imported steel and aluminium this week as he stepped up pressure against China to develop a plan to reduce its trade imbalance with the United States by a billion dollars.
A day after the resignation of his economic adviser, Gary Cohn, and despite strong pushback from Republican lawmakers, the White House said Trump was ready to move forward with his tariffs plan by the end of the week.
Some reports suggested he could sign the presidential proclamation as soon as Thursday.
Trump’s plan would impose a duty of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminium to counter cheap imports, especially from China, that he says undermine U.S. industry and jobs.
The action risks retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports – not least by Canada and Europe – and complicates already difficult talks on the North American Free Trade Area with Canada and Mexico.
The departure of Cohn, seen as a bulwark against Trump’s economic nationalism, clears the way for greater influence by trade hardliners like Peter Navarro, Trump’s trade policy adviser, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the president was considering several candidates to fill Cohn’s position, while Navarro said he was not in the running for the job.
“The president’s got a number of people that could potentially fill that role,” Sanders told reporters.
The increased likelihood of tit-for-tat trade measures and its impact on global growth hit shares, oil and the dollar.
Adding to the tensions over the tariffs, Trump doubled down on China, which he accuses of unfair trade practices.
“China has been asked to develop a plan for the year of a One Billion Dollar reduction in their massive Trade Deficit with the United States,” Trump tweeted, mistakenly referring to a deficit where Beijing runs a surplus.
He did not give details on how such a request had been conveyed.
In his first tweet on Wednesday, the U.S. President showed no sign of backing down, saying the United States had lost more than 55,000 factories and 6 million manufacturing jobs and let its trade deficit soar since the first Bush administration.
“Bad policies & leadership. Must win again!” he tweeted, a day after saying he did not fear a trade war. Reuters report.
