Free Republic

Republican Ohio Governor John Kasich is pushing Republican leadership to stand up to President Donald Trump on tariffs and immigration. […] Kasich urged Republicans in Congress “to do whatever they can do legislatively” to push back against Trump’s decisions to impose tariffs on several ally nations and end an Obama-era program to protect undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children. …

Originally President Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum exempted imports from Canada, Mexico, and Europe. No longer. The administration has broadened the application of its tariffs even as their strategic and economic costs are becoming more apparent. The law gives Trump the authority to impose tariffs to protect national security. These tariffs are, however, an abuse of that law. The Department of Defense has explained that the military needs only 3 percent of our domestic steel and aluminum production, and our largest supplier, Canada, is an ally — albeit one that now has reason to be miffed with us....

Canada filed a challenge to the U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum with the World Trade Organization on Friday and said it will request a Chapter 20 panel under the North American Free Trade Agreement on Friday in response to the U.S. move. "These unilateral tariffs, imposed under a false pretext of safeguarding U.S. national security, are inconsistent with the United States international trade obligations and WTO rules," Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement. "Canada will closely collaborate with the European Union, which also filed a WTO challenge today, as well as with other like-minded countries, on opposing...

The chairman of Molson Coors, which owns MillerCoors, is warning the cost of beer may be going up under President Donald Trump's new tariffs on aluminum.

Chancellor Angela Merkel blasted US import duties on steel and aluminum imports Thursday as “illegal” and said they risked sparking a disastrous “spiral” of retaliatory measures. “The German government rejects the tariffs imposed by the US on steel and aluminum. We consider this unilateral measure to be illegal; the cited grounds of national security do not stand up,” Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement. “The measure risks touching off spirals of escalation that in the end hurt everyone.” Merkel said the European Union had made the “necessary preparations for appropriate countermeasures” to the tariffs, after EU chief Jean-Claude...

So much for Donald Trump as genius deal-maker. We are supposed to believe his tariff threats are a clever negotiation strategy, but on Thursday he revealed he’s merely an old-fashioned protectionist. His decision to slap tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Europe, Canada and Mexico will hurt the U.S. economy, his own foreign policy and perhaps Republicans in November. In March Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross dangled temporary exemptions to 25% steel and 10% aluminum tariffs to extort trade concessions from U.S. allies. Mr. Ross withdrew the exemptions on Thursday, saying the U.S. “was unable to reach satisfactory arrangements” with...

Canada will retaliate against new U.S. tariffs by imposing its own trade barriers on U.S. steel, aluminum and other products, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said Thursday. This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

In a move that sharply escalates trade tensions with America’s closest allies, the Trump administration said Thursday it would allow steep tariffs to take effect on imported steel from the European Union, Canada and Mexico. Despite European officials’ last-ditch pleas as well as repeated vows of retaliation, the administration said it would not extend for a third time temporary tariff exemptions on steel and aluminum, which expire at midnight Friday. If the duties are imposed — 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum — EU leaders said they would have no choice but to respond with counter-tariffs on as much...

The Trump administration will put tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union, the latest action in a string of protectionist policies to crack down on alleged trade abuses. The tariffs of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum imports will take effect at midnight Thursday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told reporters. The U.S. gave those allies a reprieve from those duties, but the exemptions were set to expire Friday. The Trump administration will place quotas or volume limits on other countries such as South Korea, Argentina, Australia and Brazil instead of...

The Trump administration announced Thursday it will impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Europe, Mexico and Canada after failing to win concessions from the American allies. Europe and Mexico pledged to retaliate quickly, exacerbating trans-Atlantic and North American trade tensions. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the tariffs would be 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum, and go into effect on Friday, as the administration followed through on the penalties after earlier granting exemptions to buy time for negotiations. President Donald Trump had announced the tariffs in March, citing national security concerns. The European Commission’s president,...

Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday that its exports to the U.S. rose 22% in April, highlighting the problem it faces if the Trump administration makes good on threats to impose higher tariffs on imports. The problem is crystallized in one model: the RAV4 sport-utility vehicle. It is the most popular Toyota among American consumers—and none are made in the U.S. More than half are imported from Japan, while the rest are made in Canada and imported tariff-free under the North American Free Trade Agreement.

White House to impose 25% tariff on $50bn worth of Chinese goods Aggressive step in an effort to reduce $337bn US trade deficit Move comes at a sensitive time in US-China relations The White House has taken aggressive new steps in its effort to reduce a $337bn trade deficit with China, announcing that it will impose a 25% tariff on $50bn of Chinese goods containing “industrially significant technology”. “From now on, we expect trading relationships to be fair and to be reciprocal,” Donald Trump said in statement. The threat of new tariffs comes despite an apparent US decision, enunciated by...

WASHINGTON—The Trump administration is considering a plan that would impose new tariffs on imported vehicles on national-security grounds, according to industry officials briefed on broad outlines of the plan. President Donald Trump has already used a legal provision known as Section 232 to impose global tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, and now the administration is considering starting a probe of imported cars under the same law, possibly applying tariffs at the end, the people said. Mr. Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of tariffs on auto imports in meetings. The plan remains in its early stages, and is likely...

Chancellor Angela Merkel visits China on Thursday, seeking to close ranks with the world’s biggest exporting nation as US President Donald Trump shakes up explosive issues from trade to Iran’s nuclear deal. Finding a common strategy to ward off a trade war and keep markets open will be Merkel’s priority when she meets with President Xi Jinping, as Washington brandishes the threat of imposing punitive tariffs on aluminium and steel imports. “Both countries are in agreement that open markets and rules-based world trade are necessary. That’s the main focus of this trip,” Merkel’s spokeswoman Martina Fietz said in Berlin on...

It was easy to miss the U.S.-China trade statement that the White House released Saturday, right in the midst of royal wedding mania. But it's hard to hide that China looks as if it's winning President Trump's trade skirmish — so far. The statement said that, after several days of talks, the Chinese agreed to “substantially” reduce the United States' $375 billion trade deficit with China and that the details would be worked out later. It was noticeably vague. Notice China didn't agree to a specific amount. On Friday, Trump's top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, was telling reporters that the...

Just-ended U.S.-China trade talks produced a commitment by Beijing to “significantly increase” its purchases of American goods and services, according to a joint statement Saturday from the rival economic powers trying to lower trade tensions. They also agreed on “meaningful increases” in U.S. exports of agriculture and energy products and greater efforts to increase trade in manufactured goods and services. The statement, however, provided no dollar amounts on how much China might boost its purchases of American products. The statement also was silent on whether the talks had made progress in easing the trade standoff between the world’s two biggest...

The Trump administration will soon unveil a “new” North American Free Trade Agreement. U.S. trade negotiators have sought, among other things, to limit its duration, impose new domestic content requirements on certain products, and weaken investor legal protections. Even with these protectionist features, congressional Democrats are unlikely to vote for President Trump’s Nafta 2.0. He will need the support of pro-trade Republicans like me to ensure passage of any new agreement. To pressure us into voting for an agreement that diminishes free trade, some in the administration suggest offering a grim choice: either approve a diminished Nafta, or the president...

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Encouraged by a booming demand for construction equipment, Mike Haberman was planning in early February to hire at least 30 more workers for the manufacturing facility of his Gradall Industries in Ohio. That plan now is shelved, Haberman said, because the cost of steel used in Gradall’s telescopic excavators and vacuum trucks shot up by one-third following President Donald Trump’s crackdown on steel imports. As steel costs account for 35 percent of his cost of production, he fears rising prices would not only hurt his export sales, but also give an edge to foreign rivals at home....

The clean energy transition and other initiatives to decarbonise Europe’s economy will represent 25% of EU spending under a seven-year EU budget plan put forward by the European Commission on Wednesday (2 May). Another key aspect is whether the EU will commit to stop funding fossil fuel projects like gas pipelines, which environmentalists claim risk locking Europe into unnecessary infrastructure. “I’m not sure it’s reached the upper layers of the Commission yet,” Gaventa said. Other parts of the budget could prove controversial, like a proposal to allocate 20% of revenue from carbon trading to the EU budget, as well as...

The Trump administration’s decision to continue trade negotiations with allies averted new tariffs but threatens to slow corporate spending and drive up costs, developments that could inject new uncertainty into financial markets. The questions about tariffs—and when they would take effect—already have been rattling Wall Street. Investors dumped stocks when they feared the chances of a trade war were escalating, only to buy back in when those worries subsided. Since the tariffs were announced in early March, the S&P 500 has fallen just 2.2%, but it has had moves of 1% or more on 17 of 43 trading days through...