A top trade adviser to US president Donald Trump said on Sunday a process will be in place for businesses to get exemptions from the White House plan to place steep tariffs on steel and aluminium, offering the first indication that a tariff hike could be less broad than first thought.
Peter Navarro, director of the White House National Trade Council, said countries will not be excluded from the tariffs because that would become a slippery slope, but there will be a mechanism for corporate exemptions in some cases.
“There will be an exemption procedure for particular cases where we need to have exemptions, so that business can move forward,” Mr Navarro said on CNN’s State of the Union programme.
The scenario of possible exceptions came after Mr Trump’s surprise announcement on Thursday and subsequent aggressive business lobbying against the tariffs, an outcry from US trading partners and criticism from fellow Republicans.
Mr Trump has spoken to world leaders about the planned tariff hikes but has given no indication he would allow exemptions, commerce secretary Wilbur Ross said on Sunday.
Mr Navarro did not elaborate on the exemption procedure and the White House did not immediately return a request for comment.
The two men, who have advocated stronger trade policies to reduce trade imbalances, went on Sunday television news shows to try to contain the global fallout from Mr Trump’s announcement.
The president said the United States would impose duties of 25 per cent on imported steel and 10 per cent on aluminium to protect domestic producers. The plan stunned US trading partners, alarmed American industry leaders and roiled stock markets.
Josh Bolten, chief executive of the influential Business Roundtable, told Fox News on Sunday that the tariffs would cause “huge damage” across the economy without affecting China.
A frequent target of Mr Trump’s criticism on trade, China accounts for 2 per cent of US steel imports.
A number of Republicans, including congressional leaders, urged the president to hold back on the tariffs.
At North American trade talks in Mexico City, Republican representative Kevin Brady, the top US lawmaker on trade policy, said the administration should exempt current aluminium and steel contracts to avoid business uncertainty.
“I believe there should be a quick and timely exclusion process for existing contracts, as well as for existing businesses,” he said.
Energy industry officials raised concerns about the tariffs on steel since the sector relies on imports.
“The US oil and natural gas industry, in particular, relies on specialty steel for many of its projects that most US steel makers don’t supply,” American Petroleum Institute president Jack Gerard said last week.
The steel used to make large-diameter, thick-walled pipe for interstate natural gas and oil pipeline projects are not available off the shelf or from a wide variety of manufacturers, according to the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America.
Numerous world leaders and ministers have been in touch with Mr Trump and US officials including Mr Ross, suggesting an intensive behind-the-scenes effort to change the president’s mind, the commerce secretary said.
British prime minister Theresa May told Trump she had “deep concern” about the expected tariffs, May’s office said on Sunday following a phone call between the two leaders. Mrs May said “multilateral action was the only way to resolve the problem of global overcapacity in all parties’ interests.”
Mr Ross said there was no indication yet that Mr Trump would consider exemptions for countries, but he did not rule it out.
“We’ll see. The president makes the decision,” Ross said on NBC’s Meet the Press.
Canada, the biggest steel supplier to the US, is trying to secure an exemption from potential US tariffs on steel and has threatened retaliation if the plan goes ahead.
Mr Ross said the proposed tariffs represent a fraction of 1 per cent of the US economy so they would not have a great impact.
The commerce secretary dismissed European Union threats of retaliatory tariffs on flagship American products, including Harley Davidson motorcycles, bourbon and Levi’s jeans, calling the $3 billion in affected goods a “pretty trivial” amount.
On Saturday, Trump threatened European automakers with a tax on imports if the European Union retaliates.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
The biog
Age: 23
Occupation: Founder of the Studio, formerly an analyst at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi
Education: Bachelor of science in industrial engineering
Favourite hobby: playing the piano
Favourite quote: "There is a key to every door and a dawn to every dark night"
Family: Married and with a daughter
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Company%20profile
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The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
The Details
Article 15
Produced by: Carnival Cinemas, Zee Studios
Directed by: Anubhav Sinha
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Sayani Gupta, Zeeshan Ayyub
Our rating: 4/5
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Results
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStage%202%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E1.%20Soudal%E2%80%93Quick-Step%20-%2018%E2%80%9911%E2%80%9D%3Cbr%3E2.%20EF%20Education%20%E2%80%93%20EasyPost%20-%201%22%3Cbr%3E3.%20Ineos%20Grenadiers%20-%203%22%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EGeneral%20classification%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E1.%20Lucas%20Plapp%20(AUS)%20Ineos%20Grenadiers%3Cbr%3E2.%20Remco%20Evenepoel%20(BEL)%20Soudal%E2%80%93Quick-Step%20-%20ST%3Cbr%3E3.%20Nikias%20Arndt%20(GER)%20Bahrain%20Victorious%20-%203%22%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The%20specs
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TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
Friday’s fixture
6.15pm: Al Wahda v Hatta
6.15pm: Al Dhafra v Ajman
9pm: Al Wasl v Baniyas
9pm: Fujairah v Sharjah
.
Company Profile
Founders: Tamara Hachem and Yazid Erman
Based: Dubai
Launched: September 2019
Sector: health technology
Stage: seed
Investors: Oman Technology Fund, angel investor and grants from Sharjah's Sheraa and Ma'an Abu Dhabi
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
McLaren GT specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 620bhp
Torque: 630Nm
Price: Dh875,000
On sale: now
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
SPECS
Toyota land Cruiser 2020 5.7L VXR
Engine: 5.7-litre V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 362hp
Torque: 530Nm
Price: Dh329,000 (base model 4.0L EXR Dh215,900)
