Download
1 / 21
E N D
President Trump said on Thursday that he would impose stiff tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum, making good on a key campaign promise and rattling stock markets as the prospect of a global trade fight appeared imminent. “Trade wars are good, and easy to win,” he tweeted the next morning. At a White House meeting with industry executives, Mr. Trump said he would formally sign the trade measures next week and promised they would be in effect “for a long period of time.” The action would impose tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum, effectively placing a tax on every foreign shipment of those metals into the United States. The administration has said it wants to combat cheap metals flooding into the United States. “People have no idea how badly our country has been treated by other countries,” Mr. Trump said on Thursday. “They’ve destroyed the steel industry, they’ve destroyed the aluminum industry, and other industries, frankly.” He also tweeted, “Our Steel and Aluminum industries (and many others) have been decimated by decades of unfair trade and bad policy with countries from around the world. We must not let our country, companies and workers be taken advantage of any longer.” The announcement came despite months of heavy pushback from American companies that use metals in their products, like automakers and food packagers, and foreign officials, who warned that tariffs would strain relations and could prompt retaliatory trade actions. It also elicited a swift and severe response from Republican lawmakers, who said the action would ultimately hurt American companies, workers, consumers and the economy. Brazil, Canada, Germany, Mexico and South Korea were the largest suppliers of steel to the United States in 2017, while Canada, Russia and the United Arab Emirates shipped the largest share of aluminum imports in 2016. On Thursday, Canada, the European Union and other countries said they might have no choice but to retaliate in response.
In Other News • Russian President Vladimir Putin boasted of new "invincible" missiles that he says neither the US nor NATO can stop, but US officials aren't impressed. Putin said Russia has new drones and nuclear weapons systems with unlimited range that could render NATO defenses "useless" and deliver a warhead at hypersonic speed. He even showed video clips of an imagined attack on Florida. US officials called the video and Putin's claims "cheesy," stressing that US defense capabilities are "second to none.” • A bus driver was found guilty on charges related to a 2016 crash that killed six children in Chattanooga. Johnthony Walker was convicted of negligent homicide, reckless aggravated assault and reckless driving. Prosecutors argued Walker was speeding and on his phone when the bus ran off the road, flipped over and hit a tree. Walker -- who denied being on his phone and said he couldn't remember how fast he was driving -- testified he'd swerved to avoid a vehicle that veered into his lane. He'll be sentenced next month. • With three northern white rhinos left in the world, the only male is gravely ill, raising fears the subspecies is getting closer to extinction. Sudan made headlines last year when the Tinder dating app named him the "most eligible bachelor in the world" in a campaign to raise funds to save the subspecies. At 45, considered elderly in rhino years, the animal lives at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya with two female northern white rhinos -- Fatu and Najin. They are the last three northern white rhinos. Rhinos are targeted by poachers, fueled by the belief in Asia that their horns cure various ailments. Experts say the rhino horn is becoming more lucrative than drugs. With only three left, there's a race against time to try to sustain the northern white rhino. A committee at the conservancy is looking at various alternative reproduction techniques, including in vitro fertilization.
