Trump’s Tariffs: All the Latest Developments

• March 05 2018
• Ranjeetha Pakiam, Betty Liu

U.S. President Donald Trump is sticking to his push to impose across-the-board tariffs on steel and aluminum imports even as opposition comes from all corners of the globe, as well as a raft of corporate heavyweights such as Ford Motor Co. “Our friends and en…

U.S. President Donald Trump is sticking to his push to impose across-the-board tariffs on steel and aluminum imports even as opposition comes from all corners of the globe, as well as a raft of corporate heavyweights such as Ford Motor Co. “Our friends and enemies have taken advantage of the U.S. for many years,” Trump said in Twitter post on Sunday. “Our Steel and Aluminum industries are dead. Sorry, it’s time for a change!”

We’re following developments here. The time-stamps are for New York.

Don’t Forget, Metals May Be Followed by IP (10:01 p.m.)

While steel and aluminum are front and center at the moment, there’s plenty of scope for additional action on trade from the White House, according to Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trading at Oanda Corp. in Singapore. The push on metals may be only the early stages, with “far more critical decisions” coming up on China’s alleged abuse of intellectual property under section 301, Innes said in a note. That refers to a probe by Trump’s top trade negotiator, Robert Lighthizer. “Life in the markets could get incredibly messy,” Innes says.

Trump Risks ‘a Lot of Collateral Damage’ (6:15 p.m.)

Trump’s wrong when he says trade wars aren’t a concern, especially when allies are targeted too, according to Richard Socarides, group head of public affairs at Gerson Lehrman Group, and a former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton. “It’s really uncharted territory,”  Socarides told Betty Liu and and Yvonne Man on Bloomberg TV. “I think the opposite of being easy to win, I think it’s going to be very unpredictable, and could be very dangerous and there could be a lot of collateral damage.” Still, the president may yet rethink his approach, Socarides said. “He can announce something one day, and several days later, after he experiences the reaction, he can change his mind.”

— With assistance by Yvonne Man