Trump says tariffs will be ‘very fair,’ names winners and losers

Washington (AFP) – US President Donald Trump said he would press ahead with 25 percent tariffs on foreign steel and 10 percent on aluminum Thursday, while saying Mexico, Canada, Australia and “others” could be exempt.

“We are going to be very fair, we’re going to be very flexible” Trump told his cabinet, while pointing to winners and losers from the contentious policy.

Trump said Mexico and Canada could get carve outs if talks to renegotiate the trilateral NAFTA trade agreement go well. 

“If we reach a deal it is most likely that we won’t be charging those two countries the tariffs,” he said, adding that Australia would also be spared.

“We have a very close relationship with Australia, we have a trade surplus with Australia, great country, long term partner, we’ll be doing something with them,” he said. “We’ll be doing something with some other countries.”