President Trump signed controversial orders to impose tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum on Thursday, while surrounded by steelworkers.
President Donald Trump: “Today I’m defending America’s national security by placing tariffs on foreign imports of steel and aluminum. We will have a 25 percent tariff on foreign steel and a 10 percent tariff on foreign aluminum when the product comes across our borders.”
The tariffs, which have sparked tensions with U.S. allies, will temporarily exclude Mexico and Canada, despite the White House earlier saying there would be no exceptions to the tariffs.
President Donald Trump: “At the same time, due to the unique nature of our relationship with Canada and Mexico, we’re negotiating right now NAFTA, and we’re going to hold off the tariff on those two countries to see whether or not we’re able to make the deal on NAFTA—national security, very important aspect of that deal.”
After signing the tariffs, Trump now heads to a steel mining area of Pennsylvania, where he’ll hold a rally Saturday night to campaign for Republican congressional candidate Rick Saccone, who is facing off against Democratic former prosecutor and Marine Corps Captain Conor Lamb in a special election on March 13. The special election will fill the seat left vacant by Republican Tim Murphy, who resigned last year after revelations that the vehemently anti-abortion lawmaker had pressured a woman he was having an affair with to have an abortion.