Trump Unsettles Wall Street With Vague Tariff Threats
Wall Street and the stock market respond negatively to instability and uncertainty. President Trump’s recent statements on steel and aluminum tariffs have sparked fears of a trade war in these markets. The ripple effect this uncertainty can have on other markets only leads to additional market decline. It is hard to ignore the irony of Trump’s words actually causing the markets to fall after he previously bragged that he was the reason for their ascent.
The timing of President Donald Trump’s announcement of steep tariffs on steel and aluminum imports remained up in the air on Wednesday as administration officials worked to complete a legal analysis of the proposal, according to administration officials.
The White House had been tentatively planning for a 3:30 p.m. Thursday announcement and even invited steel and aluminum industry workers to attend. But an administration official told POLITICO late Wednesday that it was unlikely that the announcement would still occur on Thursday because lawyers were still finalizing crucial paperwork required to put the tariffs into effect.
A person familiar with the internal debate on the tariffs said the specifics of the final announcement were still being ironed out late Wednesday.Trump surprised even some senior aides last week when he announced that he would soon impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports. While many in the administration knew Trump was strongly in favor of hefty tariffs, lawyers and policy staff were not prepared to move forward so quickly.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters earlier Wednesday that the tariffs were on track to be issued this week.
The White House declined to comment on the exact timing of the announcement.
Amid mounting pressure from members of his own party, including congressional leadership, Trump has also signaled his openness to exemptions that would — at least temporarily — protect key allies from the effects of the tariffs.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told Fox Business Network on Wednesday night that Trump would temporarily exempt Canada and Mexico from the tariffs as the United States continues negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement.
“The proclamation will have a clause that does not impose these tariffs immediately on Canada and Mexico,” Navarro said, adding that it’ll give administration officials a chance to continue NAFTA negotiations with the countries.
He said the countries “won’t receive the tariffs” if they and the United States can reach an agreement on renegotiating NAFTA.
