Trump signs tariff orders, ignores allies, Republicans

Trump signs tariff orders, ignores allies, Republicans

Washington, March 9: US President Dold 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 days. Thursday’s move comes after a week of furious lobbying and a burst of last-minute interl debates and confusion, reports The New York Times. For now, Trump agreed to exempt, Cada 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 competition. “Our 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 it’s a security disaster we want to build our ships, we want to build our planes... with steel and aluminium from our country. “We’re filly taking action to correct this long overdue problem. Today I’m defending America’s tiol security by placing tariffs on foreign imports of steel and aluminium,” he added. Trump is imposing the tariffs using a rarely employed trade provision known as Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, claiming a tiol security ratiole for protecting the domestic steel and aluminium industries, reports CNN. The President’s move is expected to be questioned and countered, and could further put the US at odds with the intertiol community. (IANS)

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