Trump’s former trade secretary says the president will unlikely

New York
Cnn
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Since President Donald Trump won the election in November, companies all over the globe have aligned with higher tariffs – a key day, as a promise made by the president.

But within a week into his presidency, Trump has not yet adopted any new tariffs.

It could change, come at. 23:59 one on Saturday – the deadline that Trump is set when he says he will beat 25% duties in all Mexican and Canadian goods and a 10% duty on all Chinese goods.

The tariffs, he said, will be imposed as a way of punishing the three nations that Trump claims are responsible for helping people enter the country illegally and delivering fentanyl consumed in the United States.

Trump said to journalists from the Oval Office on Thursday, saying he meant business, especially with his customs threats against Mexico and Canada. The White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also confirmed Friday that Trump will charge the 10% Tariff at China on Saturday.

Should these threats be believed? Yes and no, said Trump’s former trade secretary Wilbur Ross.

The threat of carpet age is probably exaggerated, Ross said in an interview with CNN. “There will probably be exclusions because there are some items that just are not made here will not be made here, and therefore there is no special point that puts tariffs on.”

Ross, who was one of a handful of the first cabinet members in Trump’s first administration to hold their position for the entire four -year period, said he spoke for such exclusions when he advised Trump on customs policies.

Treasury secretary Scott Bessent supports a gradual approach and cuts out exceptions to certain goods, he said in his confirmation hearing. But Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominees to lead the Commerce Department, said he approved a blanketriff approach. There are advantages and disadvantages to both, Ross said.

“When we put in steel tariffs, we got 11,000 requests for exceptions. There are no 11,000 legitimate requests, ”Ross said, referring to the 25% Tariff Trump charged on steel imported from most countries to the United States in 2018, unless they met certain qualifying exemption criteria. Many of these requests were rejected, he added.

In addition, exclusions for certain countries’ products or certain items quickly created “a number of whack-a-mole,” he said.

“Every time you put in something, all these smart minds abroad will do their best to find out: How do I get around it? Am I coming around it with transformation? Am i coming around it with a trivial change? “Said Ross. Therefore, he sees some value for Trump to pursue in some cases blanket tariffs.

Ross, known in business to many as “king of bankruptcy” for his ability to acquire practically abandoned companies and transform them into profitable companies that he had later sold, Trump said “means business all the time” when it comes to threats he makes. However, there are some speculation that Trump may be using duty as a negotiating tactic and will not follow through.

This was the case last weekend with Colombia. Hours after Trump ordered steep tariffs on Colombian goods after the nation initially refused to accept aircraft with deported migrants, the tariffs were taken off the table. The White House released a statement that Colombia agreed to “all President Trump’s conditions.”

It is likely to be a common experience with other countries that Trump promises to impose tariffs on tariffs, Ross said. “Sometimes you can get most of what you need without duty.”

E.g. Ross said that with the help of US ambassadors to the European Union and Belgium, he was able to convince leaders of European car companies to build more auto production facilities in the United States in exchange for avoiding customs duties on their cars.

As for what Trump will sign in the law this weekend, “No one really knows what he wants to do,” Ross said at an event hosted by the Japan Society last week. Trump understands that “fear of the unknown is the most powerful fear that there is,” and he is fully taking advantage of it, Ross said.