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12:03, 23-Mar-2018
Trump temporarily exempts EU, six other economies from metals tariffs
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US President Donald Trump on Thursday approved the suspension of much-criticized tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the European Union and six other economies, said the White House.
The tariffs on imports from EU member states, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and S. Korea will be suspended until May 1, a White House statement said.
The United States was set to begin imposing the higher import duties of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum, mainly aimed at curbing imports from China, as of 12:01 a.m. EST on Friday.
“I have determined that the necessary and appropriate means to address the threat to the national security posed by imports from steel articles from these countries is to continue these discussions and to exempt steel articles imports from these countries from the tariff, at least at this time,” according to Trump’s proclamation released by the White House.
Earlier, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that the EU would respond firmly if the United States did not exempt European steel and aluminum.
The European Commission had proposed that if US tariffs were applied the bloc would challenge them at the World Trade Organization.
Canada and Mexico are in the midst of renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the United States. Trump had said Canada and Mexico would only be excluded after the successful renegotiation of NAFTA.