Trump tariffs: Canada and Mexico may be exempt from plan, White House says

Donald Trump could exempt Canada, Mexico and other countries from stiff import taxes he is expected to impose this week, the White House said on Wednesday.

The US president and his allies previously indicated that there would be no exceptions to the trade tariffs, which have been condemned by the European Union (EU) and led to the resignation of the president’s chief economic adviser, Gary Cohn.

“We expect the president will sign something by the end of the week and there are potential carve-outs for Mexico and Canada based on national security, and possibly other countries as well, based on that process,” the White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders, told reporters on Wednesday.

“That would be a case-by-case and country-by-country basis but it would be determined whether or not there is a national security exemption.”

The secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, and the defense secretary, Jim Mattis, have expressed concern that the tariffs could undermine vital national security alliances, according to media reports. But the White House has taken a hard line until now.

Peter Navarro, the hardline author of Death By China and director of the White House National Trade Council, told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday: “As soon as you start exempting countries, you have to raise the tariffs on everybody else. As soon as you exempt one country, then you have to exempt another country. And so it’s a slippery slope.”

Source: theguardian