Trump Says He Could Put Both Tariffs and Quotas on Steel Imports
President Donald Trump this week said he might level tariffs and quotas on steel imports, apparently referring to the ongoing Commerce Department-led Section 232 investigation on imports of the metal, according to a White House transcript of remarks to reporters aboard Air Force One released July 13. Trump said “there are two ways” to stop dumped steel imports from China and elsewhere. “Maybe I’ll do both,” he said. “They're dumping steel. Not only China, but others. We're like a dumping ground, OK? They're dumping steel and destroying our steel industry; they've been doing it for decades, and I'm stopping it. It'll stop.” Trump said he has been “going a little bit easier” on any trade-related measures against China “because I’d like to have their help.”
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The flawed U.S. trade relationship with China remains a source of leverage in trying to persuade China to be tougher on North Korea, but Trump retains a “very good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping, he added. “I think he's a tremendous guy,” Trump said. “But don't forget: He's for China. I'm for the U.S. So that's always going to be.”
A Commerce spokesman on July 12 said that the department will "soon" submit its 232 investigation to Trump (see 1707130034). "U.S. businesses and other stakeholders should rest assured that [Commerce] Secretary [Wilbur] Ross takes a methodical, reasoned approach to all recommendations he makes to the President," he said. "Secretary Ross has a deep knowledge of the complex markets and supply chains that might be affected by any possible action on steel."
Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. Cui Tiankai at the National Governors Association conference in Providence, Rhode Island, on July 13 called for the U.S. business community to "remind the Trump administration" how important bilateral trade negotiations between China and the U.S. can be, according to a summary of the speech posted by Chinese government-owned China Network Television (here). "Trying to counter the rise of protectionism in America under the Trump administration, Cui said that increasing bilateral trade would benefit both the US and China," the summary says. The report quotes Cui as telling the governors: "When we make the pie bigger, both China and the United States will be able to take a bigger bite.” The report says that the bilateral trade balance will likely be a topic of discussion during the first round of the U.S.-China Comprehensive Economic Dialogue in Washington on July 19. "America will want to reduce the trade gap with China while the Chinese side will seek more respectful treatment from China critics in power in the US," the summary says.
The Chinese government-owned China Daily published an article (here) citing a Chinese trade analyst who said a bilateral trade war "clearly ... will not take place this year" but who added that "we will also stay alert for the possibility next year." Wei Jianguo, vice chairman of the Beijing-based Center for International Economic Exchanges, reportedly pointed to ongoing progress in the bilateral "100-day action plan" on trade, especially in agricultural, energy and "high-end manufacturing products trade." He added: “The U.S. certainly doesn’t want a trade war with China as its airplane, automobile and machinery manufacturers, agriculture businesses and many other sectors have multi-billion-dollar exports to China every year."