U.S. President Donald Trump summoned leaders from steel and aluminum companies to the White House today amid reports suggesting he is about to announce major tariffs on imports of the two products, the latest flank in his trade war.
Trump tweeted Thursday that the U.S. steel and aluminum industries "have been decimated by decades of unfair trade and bad policy with countries from around the world. We must not let our country, companies and workers be taken advantage of any longer. We want free, fair and SMART TRADE!"
The United States imported 26.9 million tonnes of steel in 2017, and more than four million, or 16 per cent of it, came from Canada.
But Canada was not singled out on a list of problematic nations given to Trump by his Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross last month.
Ross recommended that the president choose one of three options to deal with what his department called the "national security threat" that imported steel and aluminum represents:
- Tariffs of 24 per cent on all steel and 7.7 per cent on aluminum imports from all countries.
- Tariffs of 53 per cent on steel imports from 12 countries, including Brazil, China and Russia, and tariffs of 23.6 per cent on aluminum imports from China, Hong Kong, Russia, Venezuela and Vietnam. Under this option, the United States would also impose a quota limiting all other countries to the aluminum and steel they exported to the United States last year.
- A quota on steel and aluminum imports from everywhere, limiting each country to 63 per cent of the steel and 86.7 per cent of the aluminum they shipped to the U.S. last year.
It's not known which of the three choices Trump favours, but reports suggest he plans to announce his decision today.
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