Back to the White House, where press secretary Karoline Leavitt is saying American steel and aluminium industries “have actually applauded these tariffs” because “they know it’s going to grow their industry here”.
She says: “It’s going to allow them to export more steel that is made right here in the United States with American workers.”
She then launched into an attack on Canada, saying: “The president is responding to the fact that Canada has been ripping off the United States of America and hard working Americans for decades.
“If you look at the rates of tariffs across the board that Canadians have been imposing on the American people and our workers here, it is egregious.”
She then gets out a “handy dandy chart” which shows tariffs on US goods in Canada, India and Japan.
“President Trump believes in reciprocity,” she adds. “All he’s asking for at the end of the day are fair and balanced trade practices, and unfortunately Canada has not been treating us very fairly over the past several decades.”
