The U.S. will initially allow a number of allies to be exempt from the steel and aluminum tariffs that will be imposed Friday, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said, The New York Times reported.
Those exempt are the European Union, Brazil, South Korea, Argentina, and Australia, according to the report. Temporary exemptions had already gone to Canada and Mexico.
"The idea that the president has is that, based on a certain set of criteria, that some countries should be out. What he has decided to do is pause the implementation of the tariffs in respect to those countries," Lighthizer told Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., in a meeting.
If the countries named are exempted permanently from the tariffs, that would mean some of the largest foreign steel suppliers will not be subjected to the tariffs. The countries Lighthizer listed, along with Canada and Mexico, made up more than half of the volume of steel that was sold the U.S. in 2017, the Times reported.
Business groups have united to pressure Trump from implementing tariffs over fears that they will spark a global trade war, The Hill reported Wednesday.
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