President Trump announced Monday that his administration would immediately reimpose tariffs on steel and aluminum from two South American countries, blaming the governments of Brazil and Argentina for devaluing their currencies and hurting the U.S. economy.
Trump made the announcement in a series of tweets while pushing the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates and loosen monetary policy.
“Brazil and Argentina have been presiding over a massive devaluation of their currencies. which is not good for our farmers. Therefore, effective immediately, I will restore the Tariffs on all Steel & Aluminum that is shipped into the U.S. from those countries,” Trump tweeted.
{mosads}”The Federal Reserve should likewise act so that countries, of which there are many, no longer take advantage of our strong dollar by further devaluing their currencies. This makes it very hard for our manufactures & farmers to fairly export their goods. Lower Rates & Loosen – Fed!” he continued.
“U.S. Markets are up as much as 21% since the announcement of Tariffs on 3/1/2018 – and the U.S. is taking in massive amounts of money (and giving some to our farmers, who have been targeted by China)!” the president concluded in a third tweet, minutes later.
The Trump administration first implemented steel and aluminum tariffs in March of 2018, with the president declaring at the time that “aggressive foreign trade practices” related to the trade goods amounted to an “assault on our country” and the U.S. steel industry.
At the time, Trump temporarily exempted Mexico and Canada from the plan, while seeking to negotiate a replacement trade agreement for the much-criticized North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
In May of 2018, the administration made deals with several countries to temporarily suspend the tariffs, Brazil and Argentina included.