The Latest: US agrees to lift steel tariffs on Canada

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President Donald Trump speaks at the National Association of REALTORS Legislative Meetings and Trade Expo, Friday, May 17, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The Latest on President Donald Trump and U.S. trade tariffs (all times local):

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2:50 p.m.

President Donald Trump has announced a deal with Canada and Mexico that would scrap “major tariffs,” ending a simmering trade dispute that began when the president imposed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum in the name of national security.

Trump addressed the agreement while speaking before The National Association of Realtors. He urged Congress to approve a new trade pact between the three nations to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Trump did not mention the tariffs he imposed last year on steel and aluminum imports. But he said “we’ll be selling our product into those countries without the imposition of tariffs, or major tariffs.”

While the tariffs helped many U.S. steel and aluminum makers, the retaliatory tariffs hurt other sectors of the U.S. economy, such as agriculture.

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2:45 p.m.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada stayed strong in asking for a full lift of the Trump administration’s tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Trudeau said at a steel facility in Hamilton, Ontario, that now that there is a full lift of those tariffs Canada is going to work with the United States on ratification of the new trade agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

President Donald Trump used a national security justification last year to impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. One of the motivations was to pressure Canada and Mexico into agreeing to a rewrite of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The Canadians and Mexicans did go along with a revamped regional trade deal that was to Trump’s liking. But the administration refused to lift the taxes on the metals imports anyway.

Trudeau says the Trump administration’s national security justification didn’t make sense and it was hurting workers and consumers in Canada and the United States.

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1:50 p.m.

The United States has agreed to remove steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada in what was a key roadblock to a new trade deal and a sore point in relations.

Canada, in turn, has agreed to scrap the tariffs it imposed in retaliation.

In a joint statement on Friday, the two countries said they have agreed to eliminate the tariffs within 48 hours.

Sources in the U.S. and Canada said the Trump administration also has reached a deal to remove steel and aluminum tariffs from Mexico.

President Donald Trump last year slapped tariffs on imported steel and aluminum from China and a number of other nations, including Canada, invoking a rarely used provision of a 1962 law to claim that the foreign metals posed a threat to U.S. national security.

The administration retained the tariffs on Canada and Mexico even after the two countries agreed to Trump’s demands to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement, which went into effect in 1994. Removal of those tariffs on Canada has become a key demand for the administration to win support of the reworked trade agreement.

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1:40 p.m.

The United States has reached a deal to remove steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico, while those nations would scrap retaliatory tariffs they imposed on U.S. products.

That’s according to sources in the U.S. and Canada who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of an announcement.

The deal removes a major hurdle to the passage of a new pact to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement.

President Donald Trump imposed tariffs last year of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on imported aluminum. He employed a rarely used 1962 law that empowers him to put a levy on products that the Commerce Department determines threaten national security. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau planned a news conference this afternoon after earlier speaking with Trump.

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9 a.m.

President Donald Trump is delaying any decision to impose tariffs on car and auto part imports, deciding against ratcheting up trade disputes or impacting talks with European nations and Japan.

Trump announced his decision to delay for up to six months in a proclamation issued by the White House on Friday.

He was required to make a decision on Commerce Department recommendations aimed to protect the U.S. auto industry, based on national security concerns.

Trump directed his trade team to pursue negotiations and address the impact that imports are having on the U.S. auto industry and its ability to invest in new research and development that he says is critical to the nation’s security.

Trump says he’ll decide whether to take further action in 180 days.

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