It's anyone's guess when — or if — Trump will sign his tariffs decree
The White House received a letter on Wednesday signed by 107 House Republicans, imploring President Trump to "reconsider the idea of broad tariffs to avoid unintended negative consequences to the U.S. economy and its workers," and after hinting that he would sign the tariffs decree on Thursday, that's now up in the air.
Trump announced last week that he would implement a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and 10 percent tariff on aluminum. On Wednesday, White House aides began prepping for a Thursday ceremony to celebrate the signing, The Wall Street Journal reports, but after spending the day hearing from Republicans upset with his plan, Trump is undecided on how to move forward, an administration official told MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle. The official said Trump planned on signing the decree at 3 p.m., but that's now off; it's also not listed on the White House schedule for Thursday.
During her briefing on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said exemptions to the tariffs would be made on a "case by case" and "country by country" basis. Appearing on Fox Business Wednesday afternoon, Trump's trade and manufacturing adviser, Peter Navarro, said once the decree is signed, tariffs would go into effect within 30 days, but there would be a clause ensuring tariffs are not immediately imposed on Mexico and Canada, the top exporters of steel and aluminum to the United States.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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