Trump considers trade
order that could lead to duties: official
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[April 10, 2017]
By David Lawder
WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is considering an executive
order to launch a trade investigation that could lead to supplemental
duties in certain product categories, a Trump administration official
told Reuters.
Trump has made reducing U.S. trade deficits a key focus of his economic
agenda to try to grow American manufacturing jobs. He has taken
particular aim at renegotiating trade relationships with China and
Mexico.
The new order, if issued, would seek to determine whether U.S. trade
deficits for those product lines are the result of dumping of imported
products below cost and unfair subsidies by foreign governments, the
official said late on Sunday in Washington.
That could eventually lead to additional import duties, but any
decisions on such punishments would depend on the probe's findings, not
"pre-determined conclusions," said the official, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity because the order was still being considered. The
official did not specify which product lines could be investigated.
"The administration would use the results of that investigation to
determine the best path forward, which could include everything from no
action at all to the levying of supplemental duties," the official said.
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The Axios news website earlier quoted an official saying such an
executive order would likely target steel and aluminum, two industries
that are battling for more protection from Chinese imports. Axios said
it also may target household appliances, where South Korean
manufacturers with Chinese factories have gained market share.
The Trump administration official did not provide any details to Reuters
on timing of the executive order, which would be separate from a March
31 Trump order authorizing a 90-day Commerce Department study of trade
abuses and their effect on U.S. trade deficits.
TRUMP-XI 100-DAY PLAN
News of the additional order comes two days after Trump's first meeting
with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Florida, where the two leaders
agreed to launch a 100-day plan for trade talks aimed at boosting U.S.
exports to China and reducing the U.S. trade deficit with China.
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![](../images/041017pics/busine21.jpg)
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a joint news conference
with Jordan's King Abdullah (not pictured) in the Rose Garden after
their meeting at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 5, 2017.
REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
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Trump
during his election campaign had threatened punitive tariffs on Chinese imports
and to declare China a currency manipulator. He has not followed through on
either threat thus far.
The U.S. steel industry has already won extensive anti-dumping and anti-subsidy
duties on imports from China and other countries and the aluminum industry is
seeking similar protections. U.S. appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. has also won
anti-dumping duties against Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics brand clothes
washers made in China.
But U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Trump's nominee to be the top U.S.
trade negotiator, Robert Lighthizer, have said they would work to find new trade
remedies to stop unfairly traded imports.
Among options they are expected to explore are trade actions under Section 301
of the Tariff Act of 1930, a provision used extensively in the 1980s to raise
tariffs and import quotas on certain Japanese products including steel and
motorcycles.
Section 301 has largely gone unused since the World Trade Organization was
launched in 1995.
(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Randy Fabi)
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