Prospective Trump executive order on trade could lead to new tariffs


President Trump and his advisers are working on a new executive order on trade that could lead to new import duties on foreign-made goods like steel, aluminum, and appliances, a Trump administration official tells Reuters and Axios. The order, if signed, would launch an investigation into any "unfair" dumping of goods in the U.S. by foreign companies, and "the best path forward" might "include everything from no action at all to the levying of supplemental duties," the White House official said. Whatever action is taken, the official insisted, "will be informed by the results of the investigation and not by predetermined conclusions."
There is no timeline for the executive order, which is separate from a March 31 order launching a study on trade abuses and the U.S. trade deficit. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is driving the initiative, already subject to disagreement among Trump advisers, Axios says. New import duties would make targeted consumer products more expensive for Americans and U.S. companies that use steel and aluminum, but it could also help some U.S. manufacturers, which is a goal of Trump's. The White House faction wedded to America First nationalism — Stephen Bannon, Stephen Miller, Peter Navarro, and others — is seen as pushing for the tariffs, while the ascendant Wall Street wing — Gary Cohn, Dina Powell, Jared Kushner — is expected to push back.
In their summit last Thursday and Friday, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to trade talks on boosting U.S. exports and shrinking the U.S. trade deficit with China.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
The 5 best mob movies of all time
The Week Recommends If you don’t like a good gangster flick, just fuhgeddaboudit
-
Israel and Hamas meet on hostages, Trump’s plan
Speed Read Hamas accepted the general terms of Trump’s 20-point plan, including the release of all remaining hostages
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Electronic Arts to go private in record $55B deal
speed read The video game giant is behind ‘The Sims’ and ‘Madden NFL’
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fine
Speed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits