Trump announces steel tariffs will be lifted

President Trump, speaking before the National Association of Realtors Friday afternoon, announced that the U.S. would be lifting steel and aluminum tariffs.

“We’ve just reached an agreement with Canada and Mexico and we’ll be selling our product into those countries without the imposition of tariffs or major tariffs,” Mr. Trump said.

The U.S. will lift steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico in favor of stronger enforcement actions, in a move that will help clear the way for ratification of the new Nafta.

In a joint statement on Friday, the U.S. said it removed metals tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imports in exchange for Canada scrapping retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods. The deal will take effect in no longer than two days, according to the statement. Mexico plans to make an announcement later in the day, according to people familiar with the matter.

The move would lift the 25% steel and 10% aluminum tariffs the U.S. placed on the two trading neighbors almost a year ago in the name of national security. The decision sparked retaliatory duties from Canada and Mexico on U.S. farming goods and other products and became an obstacle for lawmakers in all three nations to ratifying the deal.

As part of the agreement to scrap the levies, the U.S. will be able to re-impose the tariffs on metals imports if not enough is done to prevent a surge of imports beyond historical levels. The nations have also agreed to ramp up efforts to trace where the metals have come from originally, to stop the diversion of shipments from other nations to dodge tariffs, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Canadian and Mexican governments, along with top U.S. lawmakers, have pushed the Trump administration to remove the tariffs before the countries approve the United States Mexico Canada Agreement. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke earlier Friday about the duties on metals and the tariffs Canada slapped on U.S. goods in retaliation, according to a spokesman for Trudeau.

“Now that we’ve had a full lift on these tariffs we are going to work with the United States on timing for ratification” of USMCA, Trudeau said after speaking with steelworkers on Friday. He said he is “optimistic” about moving forward with the agreement in the coming weeks.