Trump says he’s not backing down after Ryan urges him not to advance with tariffs

FAN Editor

Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan on Monday said he is “extremely worried” about President Donald Trump‘s plan to implement new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

But Trump shot back not long afterward, telling reporters in the Oval Office that he was not going to back down on tariffs.

He did, however, again signal that he may drop tariffs for Canada and Mexico if they can renegotiate a new NAFTA deal with the U.S. Trump also singled out China as the biggest problem the U.S. faces on trade – a notion the president repeatedly expressed during his campaign.

Ryan is trying to push the Trump administration not to slap 25 percent tariffs on steel and 10 percent tariffs on aluminum, a plan announced by Trump on Thursday. A GOP source told CNBC that congressional leaders have not ruled potential action down the line if Trump follows through on his plan.

“We are extremely worried about the consequences of a trade war and are urging the White House to not advance with this plan,” said AshLee Strong, Ryan’s spokeswoman. “The new tax reform law has boosted the economy and we certainly don’t want to jeopardize those gains.”

Later, though, Trump insisted on his hard line.

“No, we’re not backing down,” the president said later during an Oval Office meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “We had a very bad deal with Mexico, we had a very bad deal with NAFTA.”

Trump said that the U.S. had been “ripped off” by other countries on trade. “We lost $800 billion on trade,” he said. “We are going to take care of it.”

But Trump left a little wiggle room on his tariff stance. “Right now,” he told reporters, he is “100 percent” backing the tariffs – “but it could be a part of NAFTA,” he added, referring to the ongoing negotiations with Mexico and Canada.

Officials from the U.S., Canada and Mexico met for the final round of NAFTA talks Monday, but sources told Reuters that the negotiations would end without a trilateral statement from the nations.

Free America Network Articles

Leave a Reply

Next Post

This $1,000 appetizer is the most expensive surf and turf in the US—here's why

When dining at a New York City steakhouse, you might imagine sizzling meats would be the main feature of the meal. But at Benjamin Steakhouse Prime, located in Manhattan, it’s a raw appetizer that steals the spotlight. The dish, a riff on surf and turf, has a hefty $1,000 price […]