WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump hasn’t decided whether to extend relief for allied nations from US steel and aluminium tariffs, creating uncertainty in global metals markets with temporary exemptions set to expire in less than 24 hours.

“The president has not made any decision yet,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Fox Business Network in an interview that aired Monday, when asked about extending exemptions to trading partners.

“We’ve been having lots of discussions internally, we’ve been having lots of discussions with our counterparts,” he said, adding: “We’re addressing these issues real time.”

Mnuchin’s comments were similar to those of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who said late Saturday that the White House will announce its decision on tariffs right before the May 1 deadline.

Trump last month imposed 25 per cent tariffs on steel imports and 10pc on aluminium. But he gave temporary reprieves to Aus­tralia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, the European Union, Mexico and South Korea, and directed US Trade Representative Robert Ligh­t­­hizer to handle negotiations with countries seeking exemptions.

So far, South Korea is the only nation to be spared from the duties, though nations including France and Germany have been pushing for the EU to be excluded.

“The president gave us time to address these issues and the president is going to make a decision,” Mnuchin said. “I expect that there will be a decision quickly.”

Trump’s embrace of tariffs this year has roiled financial markets and sparked fears of a trade war that could undermine the broadest global upswing in years. The EU has threatened to retaliate with duties on iconic American goods such as Harley-Davidson motorcycles and Kentucky bourbon.

The steel decision comes days before Mnuchin and other senior members of Trump’s cabinet travel to China in search of a deal that would head off a brewing trade dispute between the world’s two-biggest economies. Trump has threatened to slap tariffs on as much as $150 billion in Chinese imports, while Beijing has vowed to respond with duties on everything from American soybeans to airplanes.

“We’re looking to have a very frank discussion on trade, on the issues of the trade imbalance,” Mnuchin said. “President Trump has been very clear for the last year that he’s very focused on the trade deficit, and we’re looking to correct that.”

The US had a $337bn trade deficit in goods and services with China last year. Trump has asked China to cut the gap by $100bn and open up the Asian nation’s markets to American products such as cars. But Chinese officials will refuse to discuss the $100bn demand at talks in Beijing this week, the New York Times reported, citing unidentified people.

In exchange for a permanent exemption from the metals tariffs, the Trump administration is pushing countries to accept quotas on the amount of steel and aluminium they export to the US. South Korea accepted a quota of 70pc of the average of its steel exports to the US between 2015 and 2017, which can come in tariff-free.

The US Aluminium Association last week sent a letter asking Trump to grant exemptions to all “responsible” trade partners. But over the weekend, Century Alumi­nium Co. Chief Executive Officer Mike Bless, leading the second-largest US aluminium producer, echoed the Commerce Department’s original recommendations to the president that said all imports must be subject to either quotas or tariffs.

Bloomberg/Washington Post Service

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2018