Donald Trump signs tariff orders, ignores allies, Republicans

Donald Trump PicAFPUS President Donald Trump has defied opposition from the Republican party and protests from global allies as he signed orders imposing stiff and sweeping new tariffs on imported steel 25 per cent and aluminium 10 per cent media reports said The actions we are taking today are not a matter of choice they are a matter of necessity for our security Trump said in a ceremony at the White House on Thursday evening where he officially authorised the tariffs which will go into effect in 15 daysThursdays move comes after a week of furious lobbying and a burst of lastminute internal debates and confusion reports The New York Times For now Trump agreed to exempt Canada and Mexico and held out the possibility of later excluding allies like Australia Flanked by a handful of steel and aluminium workers Trump presented the move as a way to rebuild vital industries decimated by foreign competitionOur factories were left to rot and to rust all over the place thriving communities turned into ghost towns That betrayal is now over The New York Times quoted the President as saying This is not merely an economic disaster but its a security disaster we want to build our ships we want to build our planes with steel and aluminium from our country Were finally taking action to correct this long overdue problem Today Im defending Americas national security by placing tariffs on foreign imports of steel and aluminium he addedTrump is imposing the tariffs using a rarely employed trade provision known as Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 claiming a national security rationale for protecting the domestic steel and aluminium industries reports CNN The Presidents move is expected to be questioned and countered and could further put the US at odds with the international community Coming on the same day that 11 US allies but not the US sign a landmark AsiaPacific trade agreement the move on tariffs only underscores Trumps embrace of the protectionist policies he believes helped him win the presidencyHe also faced continued criticism from his Republican party most notably House Speaker Paul Ryan who continued to lament Trumps move I am pleased that the President has listened to those who share my concerns and included an exemption for some American allies but it should go further We will continue to urge the administration to narrow this policy so that it is focused only on those countries and practices that violate trade law CNN quoted Ryan as saying on Thursday nightOur economy and our national security are strengthened by fostering free trade with our allies and promoting the rule of law The US is the largest steel importer in the world and the order could hit South Korea China Japan Germany Turkey and Brazil the hardest In 2002 former President George W Bush had imposed steel tariffs of up to 30 per cent The New York Times reported But facing an adverse ruling by the World Trade Organization and retaliation by trading partners he lifted them 15 months before the end of the planned threeyear duration Studies found that more jobs were lost than saved and Republican leaders vowed not to repeat the experimentCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever