U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order imposing 25 percent tariffs on steel imports and ten percent on aluminum.
As he previously alluded to, Mexico and Canada are likely to be exempt pending the outcome of ongoing negotiations on NAFTA.
Park Jong-hong reports.
In the end, President Trump stuck to his guns.
This despite fierce protests from trading partners and even collective concern from members of the Republican party who claim the measures would weaken the competitiveness of U.S. industries.
"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 10 percent on foreign aluminum when the product comes across our borders."
But he held off a decision on Canada and Mexico saying that negotiations are ongoing on NAFTA.
He said if the U.S. strikes a deal, there will be no tariffs for the two countries but if talks fall apart, the U.S. will terminate NAFTA and start all over again.
He did say that he's optimistic a deal would be reached.
In any case, Trump said 15 days remain until the tariffs take effect and exemptions will be made on a case-by-case basis considering "fairness on trade."
President Trump spoke at length about how the U.S. industry had been taken advantage of over the years.
He said millions of U.S. workers had been laid off as plants closed all across America ravaged by the unfair trade practice called dumping.
He said this was not just a disaster for the economy but also national security.
In the future he added there will be many cases of reciprocal tax which is virtually a tit for tat in tariffs between trading partners.
The tariff decision deals a blow to Korea which will have to come to grips with Trump's move.
Seoul's Trade Minister Kim Hyun-jong has been meeting with Congressional and Senate leaders pitching the message was that Korean steel is not a threat to the U.S. steel industry and is actually contributing to the U.S. economy through local investments.
In the next 15 days, Korea plans to make a final pitch to try to minimize the tariff impact.
Park Jong-hong, Arirang News.
