WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Paul Ryan is raising concerns that President Donald Trump’s plan to impose new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports could start a trade war. The speaker is “extremely worried about the consequences” and is urging the White House “to not advance with this plan,” according to a statement issued by his office.

Ryan notes through his spokeswoman that the new tax overhaul “has boosted the economy and we certainly don’t want to jeopardize those gains.”

The statement from the top Republican in the House comes as the Trump administration is arguing that the tariffs are needed to preserve American steel and aluminum and warning that North American neighbors Canada and Mexico will not get any relief unless they agree to a fair trade deal.

Meanwhile, Republican leaders of the House Ways and Means Committee are circulating a letter opposing President Donald Trump’s announcement that he’ll boost tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.

Committee spokeswoman Lauren Aronson says the letter expresses lawmakers’ concerns about “the prospect of broad, global tariffs” on the two materials. Aronson says any tariffs should be aimed at “unfairly traded products.”

The letter doesn’t mention any countries as potential targets.

The letter says the administration and Congress should pursue trade policies that build off the economic momentum from the GOP-approved tax cuts and shouldn’t disrupt trade.

The letter was drafted by committee chairman Kevin Brady of Texas and Washington state’s Dave Reichert, who heads the panel’s trade subcommittee. </s> Senior Republican Paul Ryan has publicly urged Donald Trump to not proceed with proposed steel & aluminum tariffs, saying he is 'extremely worried' about the potential consequences.

Last week President Trump announced plans for a 25% tariff on steel imports and a 10% levy on aluminium, despite reports that his own advisers had urged him not to do so.

The US President said the move was in response to decades of "disgraceful" unfair trade policies.

He argued: "We must not let our country, companies and workers be taken advantage of any longer."

The move sparked immediate fears of a trade war amid indications that other countries could impose retaliatory trade barriers of their own.

President Trump himself took to Twitter to claim "trade wars are good".

The announcement saw world stock markets plunge, while many US commentators - including from President Trump's own party - raised concerns about potential higher costs for US manufacturers.

On Monday, House Speaker Paul Ryan became the most senior Republican critic of the plan.

In a statement quoted by US media outlets, Mr Ryan's spokesperson said: "We are extremely worried about the consequences of a trade war and are urging the White House to not advance with this plan.

"The new tax reform law has boosted the economy and we certainly don’t want to jeopardise those gains."

President Trump, meanwhile, has continued defending his plan.

In a tweet on Sunday, he argued: "We are on the losing side of almost all trade deals. Our friends and enemies have taken advantage of the U.S. for many years. Our Steel and Aluminum industries are dead. Sorry, it’s time for a change!"

The World Trade Organisation Director-General Roberto Azevêdo has urged countries to avoid an 'escalation of trade barriers'.

Addressing WTO members today, he argued: "We cannot ignore this risk and I urge all parties to consider and reflect on this situation very carefully. Once we start down this path, it will be very difficult to reverse direction.

"An eye for an eye will leave us all blind and the world in deep recession."

The threats of a trade war come as the US, Canada and Mexico continue their efforts to renegotiate the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

On Monday, President Trump took to Twitter in an apparent effort to increase pressure on the USA's two neighbours. </s> Republicans have raised concern about the US president's plan to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium, with the party's top lawmaker calling for it to be scrapped.

Photo: AFP

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that steel imports would face a 25 percent tariff and aluminium 10 percent.

US Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said he was "extremely worried" about the impact of a trade war, adding that it could undermine economic gains.

But Mr Trump pushed back during a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"We're not backing down," he told reporters on Monday. "I don't think you're going to have a trade war."

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Monday that Mr Trump was "very confident" the US would win any trade war.

Mr Trump's Monday comments came an hour after Mr Ryan released a statement urging the White House to reconsider its plan.

"We are extremely worried about the consequences of a trade war and are urging the White House to not advance with this plan," Mr Ryan's spokeswoman AshLee Strong said.

"The new tax reform law has boosted the economy and we certainly don't want to jeopardise those gains."

Mr Trump's announcement last week that he would tax imported steel and aluminium has prompted worldwide reaction.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) on Monday also called on member states to "stop the fall of the first dominoes" of a trade war.

"Once we start down this path it will be very difficult to reverse direction," WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo told negotiators in Geneva on Monday. "An eye for an eye will leave us all blind and the world in a deep recession."

What does Trump want to do and why?

Earlier on Monday, Mr Trump hinted that if the US achieved a better deal for itself in the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) he would abandon plans for tariffs on US neighbours.

Those tariffs could be removed for Canada and Mexico if they signed a "new and fair" agreement, he suggested.

The current round of Nafta talks, which focus on updating the 24-year old treaty, are due to finish on Monday and have achieved little.

Mr Trump has decried the US trade deficit with other countries, which he has blamed on "very stupid trade deals and policies".

He issued a threat against EU-made cars on Saturday, which he repeated during his Oval Office meeting with the Israeli prime minister on Monday.

"They have trade barriers that are worse than tariffs. They also have tariffs by the way, but they have trade barriers far worse than tariffs."

"And if they want to do something we'll just tax their cars that they send in here like water," he vowed.

-BBC </s> Gary Cohn is leading a last-ditch effort against President Donald Trump’s plan to put modest tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.

Cohn is attempting to organize a “summit” of business leaders opposed to the tariffs, according to a person familiar with the matter. Executives at companies that use the metals to build their products, including automakers and other manufacturing companies, have expressed a desire to meet with Trump to head off the tariffs.

Trump, however, is standing by his call for the tariffs. On Monday, the president said “we’re not backing down” on the plan to put a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum.

Trump’s tariffs announcement last week was a major setback for Cohn, who Trump refers to as “globalist Gary” in private conversations. Cohn has fought tariff plans for months, combating administration officials such as trade adviser Peter Navarro and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross who think the U.S. must do more to protect its economy from predatory policies of foreign countries, particularly China.

But those internal battles took on even more urgency and became more heated in recent weeks after the Commerce Department published the findings of its Section 232 investigations. Those probes found that foreign imports of steel and aluminum were such a burden on domestic producers of the metals that they are creating a threat to national security. It recommended a variety of trade sanctions to protect the ability of the U.S. to maintain domestic steel and aluminum production.

Cohn no longer believes it is possible to stop the tariffs altogether, one person familiar with the matter told Breitbart News. Now efforts are aimed at narrowing the scope of the tariffs, focusing them more closely on “bad actors” such as China.

Similar efforts are underway on Capitol Hill. House Speaker Paul Ryan said on Tuesday that he would urge the president to adopt a “more surgical” approach to tariffs and to specifically address China and other abusers of global trade rules.

Many conservatives and Republicans remain wedded to a very ideological view of global trade and have knee-jerk reactions to proposals to restrict trade or impose sanctions, even when those may be necessary for national security. Club for Growth, a conservative pro-free market group, has warned that tariffs will hurt the economy. Sen. Mike Lee, the Utah Republican, is pushing a bill to limit the president’s ability to impose tariffs.

Republican presidential primary voters in 2015 rejected nearly a score of candidates who held pro-free trade views, favoring the economic nationalist policies advocated by Donald Trump. Proponents of the tariffs point out that failing to live up Trump’s promises on trade would hurt the Republican party in the midterm elections and possibly endanger Trump’s chances of being re-elected in 2020. </s> WASHINGTON (AP) — Key Senate Republicans are pushing longshot legislation that would require Congress to sign off on President Donald Trump’s import tariffs, a rare attempt to stand up to the administration on a bedrock issue that once defined the GOP.

Congressional Republicans are mostly at odds with what they view as Trump’s protectionist instincts on trade. Despite much hand-wringing, prospects for any bill to challenge him remain uncertain. Many Republicans are hesitant to confront Trump in a legislative showdown that could end badly for them. Doing so could court a veto and bruise their standing with Trump voters they need in midterm elections.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., indicated he was not interested in spending too much time on the effort presented behind closed doors Tuesday by its chief proponent, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., saying he preferred to focus on “getting bills passed.” And the second-ranking Republican, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, said he hoped Republicans concerned about the tariffs could prevail on the president to reverse course. He was heading to the White House later Tuesday for talks.

“Not everything we do has to be legislative. Part of this job is persuasion,” said Cornyn. He said lawmakers would “continue to make the case” with the president and his staff, which he noted is divided.

Trump took office promising to rip up trade deals and crack down on unfair trading practices. But that campaign slogan is at odds with Republicans’ longstanding preference for free markets and open trade. The standoff is raising an uncomfortable question: If Republicans can’t confront Trump on trade, can they challenge him on anything?

“For Republicans, this is who we are,” said Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. “If we believe our own rhetoric — on trade, tariffs and congressional prerogative — I hope it does come to a vote.”

The idea being pursued by Corker, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and others who have been meeting privately — and with Democrats — would be narrowly crafted legislation requiring congressional approval of the tariffs Trump has imposed in the name of national security.

They’re targeting Trump’s reliance on the so-called 232 authority, named from Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which allowed the administration to impose tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on imported aluminum from Mexico, Canada and the European Union, some of the U.S.’s top allies. The senators are also hoping to halt Trump’s threat to slap tariffs on auto imports, including those from Japan.

Corker says there’s “no way” automobiles and the other imports are a national security threat. It’s not just Trump, the senators say, but past administrations that have leaned too heavily into the national security provision they now want to subject to congressional oversight.

“When you can just name anything as a national security issue then basically you undermine the whole trade agreement process,” Corker said Tuesday.

Corker’s trying to hitch the legislation to a big annual defense bill making its way through the Senate that includes must-pass pay raises for the troops and other provisions.

Senate Republicans have warned administration officials that the tariffs could dampen the economic gains from the GOP tax cuts.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he spoke to Corker about the legislation Tuesday. “I believe there is some Democratic support for it,” Schumer said.

But Corker acknowledged the difficulty in passing legislation despite “tremendous concern” among lawmakers in both parties. “My guess is the administration may have some resistance,” he said.

Time and again, Republicans in Congress have been reluctant to put guardrails around Trump as the administration has veered from GOP orthodoxy in policy or as the president interprets the law, as he did earlier this week, to assert the special counsel probe is unconstitutional and that he has the power to pardon himself.

Flake is one of the few Republicans who repeatedly take on Trump, and he has separately offered a bill that would reverse the steel and aluminum tariffs, with support from Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota.

Farm-state senators are particularly concerned about retaliatory tariffs that would close off foreign markets to pork and key crops like soybeans and corn. “It isn’t as if the dog has not barked,” said Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee.

But it’s unclear what lawmakers are willing to do besides bark. Challenging Trump comes with its own risks, from alienating his supporters to taking voters’ attention off a healthy economy before the midterm elections, which will determine control of the House and Senate.

Asked if Congress will act on trade, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., a member of GOP leadership, answered simply: “No.” </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump faced growing pressure on Monday from political and diplomatic allies as well as U.S. companies urging him to pull back from proposed steel and aluminum tariffs, although he said he would stick to his guns.

Inside the White House, there still appeared to be confusion about the timing and extent of the planned tariffs, which would hit allies like Canada and Mexico hard.

Efforts by Trump and U.S. trade negotiators to link the NAFTA trade pact talks to the duties received short shrift from Ottawa and Mexico City.

Leading Republicans turned up the pressure on Trump, with House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan leading the charge. Ryan’s home state of Wisconsin would be hit by proposed European counter-measures on Harley-Davidson Inc motorbikes.

Representative Kevin Brady, another top House Republican, called on Trump not to hit America’s closest allies.

Business leaders are pressing for a meeting with Trump to brief him on the negative repercussions of the tariffs on companies that use steel and aluminum, a source familiar with the matter said.

A meeting had not yet been set up, the source said. The White House had no comment.

The planned tariffs have roiled world stock markets as investors worried about the prospect of an escalating trade war that would derail global economic growth. Stocks across the globe rose on Monday, however, after four days in decline as investors saw the tariff threats as a U.S. negotiating tactic and not a done deal and as pressure grew on Trump to back off.

“We’re not backing down,” Trump said during a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “I don’t think you’re going to have a trade war,” he added, without elaborating.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Trump on Monday to tell him the tariffs would be an impediment to talks on updating NAFTA, a Canadian government official said.

Canada is the single largest supplier of steel and aluminum to the United States. In the call, Trudeau “forcefully defended” Canadian workers and industries, said the official, describing the conversation as constructive.

Earlier comments from Trump had stoked talk of a global trade war as he described them as easy to win and issued a threat to German carmakers. One of those, BMW, runs a plant in the United States that is the largest single autos exporter in the country and has created thousands of jobs.

Most responses to Trump’s proposed tariffs have been targeted. The European Union said it would hit Harleys, bourbon and jeans, iconic American products. It did not threaten to ramp up the issue.

China has been largely mum, urging caution, and both Canada and Mexico have stressed the targeted nature of any response.

Trump was expected to finalize the planned tariffs later in the week, although some observers familiar with the process said it could occur next week. The initial announcement by Trump last week came as a surprise.

The United States, Mexico and Canada have been holding talks over changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement, a pact that Trump has threatened to abandon.

Six months of tense talks have produced little in the way of progress and a move by Washington to link the steel and aluminum tariffs to progress on NAFTA was rebuffed by Canada and Mexico.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer also attempted to drive a wedge between Canada and Mexico when he suggested the United States would be willing to hold bilateral, rather than trilateral talks. The two countries again stood firm.

In Washington, aides scrambled to meet Trump’s demand for the paperwork to be completed for a formal announcement. The exact timing was unclear as the tariff documentation had to be drafted and go through a variety of reviews, a process that takes days, an administration official said.

There was always a chance that Trump “could amend his initial announcement” to take account of the concerns expressed about it, said a source familiar with the internal debate at the White House.

Trump has frequently talked tough on trade, although his actions have not always matched his words. On his first day in office in January 2017, he withdrew from the 14-nation Trans Pacific Partnership agreement, a deal that was dead on arrival in the U.S. Congress in any case.

He has frequently tweeted and said that he would pull out of NAFTA, which he has called a jobs killer. But a year after taking office, the 1994 deal remains intact.

Trump has approved a series of small-scale trade actions, of which the steel and aluminum duties would be a part. Taken together with actions on washing machines and solar panels, the proposed move accounts for just 4.1 percent of U.S. imports. In terms of global trade, they are just 0.6 percent, investment bank Morgan Stanley said in a report.

The head of the World Trade Organization warned of a real risk of triggering an escalation of global trade barriers and a deep recession, even as financial markets and many economists started to discount the risk of a global crisis.

“We must make every effort to avoid the fall of the first dominoes. There is still time,” WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo told the heads of WTO delegations at a closed-door meeting in Geneva. </s> U.S. President Donald Trump faced growing pressure on Monday from political and diplomatic allies as well as U.S. companies urging him to pull back from proposed steel and aluminum tariffs, although he said he would stick to his guns. Inside the White House, there still appeared to be confusion about the timing and extent of the planned tariffs, which would hit allies like Canada and Mexico hard.

Efforts by Trump and U.S. trade negotiators to link the NAFTA trade pact talks to the duties received short shrift from Ottawa and Mexico City.

 Leading Republicans turned up the pressure on Trump, with House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan leading the charge. Ryan’s home state of Wisconsin would be hit by proposed European counter-measures on Harley-Davidson Inc motorbikes.

Representative Kevin Brady, another top House Republican, called on Trump not to hit America’s closest allies. Business leaders are pressing for a meeting with Trump to brief him on the negative repercussions of the tariffs on companies that use steel and aluminum, a source familiar with the matter said.

A meeting had not yet been set up, the source said. The White House had no comment. The planned tariffs have roiled world stock markets as investors worried about the prospect of an escalating trade war that would derail global economic growth. Stocks across the globe rose on Monday, however, after four days in decline as investors saw the tariff threats as a U.S. negotiating tactic and not a done deal and as pressure grew on Trump to back off.

“We’re not backing down,” Trump said during a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “I don’t think you’re going to have a trade war,” he added, without elaborating. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Trump on Monday to tell him the tariffs would be an impediment to talks on updating NAFTA, a Canadian government official said.

Canada is the single largest supplier of steel and aluminum to the United States. In the call, Trudeau “forcefully defended” Canadian workers and industries, said the official, describing the conversation as constructive. Earlier comments from Trump had stoked talk of a global trade war as he described them as easy to win and issued a threat to German carmakers. One of those, BMW, runs a plant in the United States that is the largest single autos exporter in the country and has created thousands of jobs.

Most responses to Trump’s proposed tariffs have been targeted. The European Union said it would hit Harleys, bourbon and jeans, iconic American products. It did not threaten to ramp up the issue. China has been largely mum, urging caution, and both Canada and Mexico have stressed the targeted nature of any response.

Trump was expected to finalize the planned tariffs later in the week, although some observers familiar with the process said it could occur next week. The initial announcement by Trump last week came as a surprise.

The United States, Mexico and Canada have been holding talks over changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement, a pact that Trump has threatened to abandon. Six months of tense talks have produced little in the way of progress and a move by Washington to link the steel and aluminum tariffs to progress on NAFTA was rebuffed by Canada and Mexico.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer also attempted to drive a wedge between Canada and Mexico when he suggested the United States would be willing to hold bilateral, rather than trilateral talks. The two countries again stood firm. In Washington, aides scrambled to meet Trump’s demand for the paperwork to be completed for a formal announcement. The exact timing was unclear as the tariff documentation had to be drafted and go through a variety of reviews, a process that takes days, an administration official said.

There was always a chance that Trump ”could amend his initial announcement” to take account of the concerns expressed about it, said a source familiar with the internal debate at the White House.

Trump has frequently talked tough on trade, although his actions have not always matched his words. On his first day in office in January 2017, he withdrew from the 14-nation Trans Pacific Partnership agreement, a deal that was dead on arrival in the U.S. Congress in any case. He has frequently tweeted and said that he would pull out of NAFTA, which he has called a jobs killer. But a year after taking office, the 1994 deal remains intact.

Trump has approved a series of small-scale trade actions, of which the steel and aluminum duties would be a part. Taken together with actions on washing machines and solar panels, the proposed move accounts for just 4.1 percent of U.S. imports. In terms of global trade, they are just 0.6 percent, investment bank Morgan Stanley said in a report.

The head of the World Trade Organization warned of a real risk of triggering an escalation of global trade barriers and a deep recession, even as financial markets and many economists started to discount the risk of a global crisis. “We must make every effort to avoid the fall of the first dominoes. There is still time,” WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo told the heads of WTO delegations at a closed-door meeting in Geneva.

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Get assembly election result LIVE updates from each constituency in Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya </s> President Donald Trump on Friday defended his controversial plan to slap huge tariffs on imported steel and aluminum amid intense GOP criticism and a growing global backlash, saying "trade wars are good, and easy to win" as international markets braced for more losses.

“When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win,” Trump tweeted early Friday. “Example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don’t trade anymore — we win big. It’s easy!”

A short time later, he returned to add, “We must protect our country and our workers.”

“Our steel industry is in bad shape. IF YOU DON’T HAVE STEEL, YOU DON’T HAVE A COUNTRY!” he said.

Trump’s morning tweets were in reference to his announcement Thursday that the U.S. would levy tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on imported aluminum — a move that prompted fierce criticism from Republicans in Congress and dire warnings of retaliation from the country's trading partners, as well as led markets to tank.

Key players on Capitol Hill, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the Senate Finance Committee chairman, were not given any heads up about Trump’s tariff announcement, and many broke ranks with Trump in an unprecedented way, with one after another coming forward during the day to caution about the dangers of tariffs and plead with Trump to hold off on any action.

Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., slammed Trump's concept of a "good" trade war in a statement Friday, and said fighting one would only lead to "so much losing."

"Trade wars are never won. Trade wars are lost by both sides. Kooky 18th century protectionism will jack up prices on American families — and will prompt retaliation from other countries," Sasse said. "Make no mistake: If the president goes through with this, it will kill American jobs — that's what every trade war ultimately does. So much losing."

Canada, a close U.S. ally and large trading partner, said Thursday that it viewed "any trade restrictions on Canadian steel and aluminum as absolutely unacceptable." The nation’s minister of foreign affairs warned that her country could “take responsive measures to defend its trade interests and workers."

The prospects of a trade war pushed the Dow down over 400 points at the close of trading on Thursday — and the decline continued into Friday’s session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by more than 300 points, or 1.2 percent, in morning trading, before rallying to end the day down 0.3 percent. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes both closed the day in positive territory after suffering losses earlier.

Trump's decision, however, earned praise from at least one corner.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who has been a proponent of tariffs and helped engineer the meeting that led to Trump's surprise announcement on the actions, told CNBC that the controversy surrounding the tariffs was just "hysteria" and "a lot to do about nothing."

In an unusual interview with the network that involved props, Ross, holding up at one point a can of Campbell's Soup and at another point a can of Coca-Cola, claimed that the potential price increases on consumer products that could result from the steel and aluminum tariffs would be "no big deal."

"Well I just bought this can today at a 7-Eleven down here, and the price was $1.99, so who in the world is going to be too bothered by six-tenths of a cent?" he said, holding up the Campbell's can.

Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, in brief comments to reporters Friday morning, acknowledged that some details still "needed to be finalized" on the plan, but said Trump remained "pretty committed" to his announcement.

When asked about Trump's supporting the idea of a trade war on Twitter, Sanders replied that the "president is still focused on long-term economic fundamentals" and "incredibly focused on the American worker and feels like both the steel and aluminum industry are both the backbone of this country."

She also dismissed reports that Gary Cohn, the White House’s top economic adviser, could leave his position in protest of the administration's tariff plan.

“I don’t have any reason to think otherwise right now,” she said, when asked whether Cohn would leave. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump faced growing pressure on Monday from political and diplomatic allies as well as U.S. companies urging him to pull back from proposed steel and aluminum tariffs, although he said he would stick to his guns.

Inside the White House, there still appeared to be confusion about the timing and extent of the planned tariffs, which would hit allies like Canada and Mexico hard.

Efforts by Trump and U.S. trade negotiators to link the NAFTA trade pact talks to the duties received short shrift from Ottawa and Mexico City.

Leading Republicans turned up the pressure on Trump, with House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan leading the charge. Ryan’s home state of Wisconsin would be hit by proposed European counter-measures on Harley Davidson motorbikes.

Representative Kevin Brady, another top House Republican, called on Trump not to hit America’s closest allies.

The planned tariffs have roiled world stock markets as investors worried about the prospect of an escalating trade war that would derail global economic growth. Stocks across the globe rose on Monday, however, after four days in decline as investors saw the tariff threats as a U.S. negotiating tactic and not a done deal and as pressure grew on Trump to back off.

“We’re not backing down,” Trump said during a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “I don’t think you’re going to have a trade war,” he added, without elaborating.

Earlier comments from Trump had stoked talk of a global trade war as he described them as easy to win and issued a threat to German carmakers. One of those, BMW, runs a plant in the United States that is the largest single autos exporter in the country and has created thousands of jobs.

Most responses to Trump’s proposed tariffs have been targeted. The European Union said it would hit Harleys, bourbon and jeans, iconic American products. It did not threaten to ramp up the issue.

China has been largely mum, urging caution, and both Canada and Mexico have stressed the targeted nature of any response.

Trump was expected to finalize the planned tariffs later in the week, although some observers familiar with the process said it could occur next week. The initial announcement by Trump last week came as a surprise.

The United States, Mexico and Canada have been holding talks over changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement, a pact that Trump has threatened to abandon.

Six months of tense talks have produced little in the way of progress and a move by Washington to link the steel and aluminum tariffs to progress on NAFTA was rebuffed by Canada and Mexico.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer also attempted to drive a wedge between Canada and Mexico when he suggested the United States would be willing to hold bilateral, rather than trilateral talks. The two countries again stood firm.

In Washington, aides scrambled to meet Trump’s demand for the paperwork to be completed for a formal announcement. The exact timing was unclear as the tariff documentation had to be drafted and go through a variety of reviews, a process that takes days, an administration official said.

There was always a chance that Trump “could amend his initial announcement” to take account of the concerns expressed about it, said a source familiar with the internal debate at the White House.

Trump has frequently talked tough on trade, although his actions have not always matched his words. On his first day in office in January 2017, he withdrew from the 14-nation Trans Pacific Partnership agreement, a deal that was dead on arrival in the U.S. Congress in any case.

He has frequently tweeted and said that he would pull out of NAFTA, which he has called a jobs killer. But a year after taking office, the 1994 deal remains intact.

Trump has approved a series of small-scale trade actions, of which the steel and aluminum duties would be a part. Taken together with actions on washing machines and solar panels, the proposed move accounts for just 4.1 percent of U.S. imports. In terms of global trade, they are just 0.6 percent, investment bank Morgan Stanley said in a report.

The head of the World Trade Organization warned of a real risk of triggering an escalation of global trade barriers and a deep recession, even as financial markets and many economists started to discount the risk of a global crisis.

“We must make every effort to avoid the fall of the first dominoes. There is still time,” WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo told the heads of WTO delegations at a closed-door meeting in Geneva. </s> WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump and trade (all times local):

Facing criticism from allies overseas and members of his own party, President Donald Trump is signaling he is not backing down from his plan to place tariffs on imports of aluminum and steel.

Trump tweets Sunday night that the American "steel and aluminum industries are dead. Sorry, it's time for a change!"

Trump is readying to place tariffs of 25 percent and 10 percent on steel and aluminum imports, respectively.

The protectionist move fulfills a campaign promise to protect American manufacturers, but is pitting him against free-market Republicans and American trading partners who are warning it would ignite a trade war.

British Prime Minister Theresa May called Trump on Sunday to register her displeasure with the impending action.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has spoken with President Donald Trump and expressed "deep concern" about his threatened trade war with the European Union.

May's office says she discussed the issue with Trump during a telephone call Sunday.

Trump has threatened to tax European cars if the EU boosts tariffs on American products in response to the president's plan to increase duties on steel and aluminum.

May's office says she "raised our deep concern at the president's forthcoming announcement on steel and aluminum tariffs, noting that multilateral action was the only way to resolve the problem of global overcapacity."

The leaders also discussed Syria and humanitarian concerns in eastern Ghouta. May's office says they agreed "the overwhelming responsibility" for suffering falls on the Syrian government and Russia, its main backer.

An influential Republican senator says President Donald Trump is "making a huge mistake" with his plan to impose steep tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham is joining a growing number of Republicans and business groups in criticizing the president's tariff plans. He says Trump is "letting China off the hook." Graham says "China is winning and we're losing with this tariff regime."

Graham tells CBS' "Face the Nation" that Trump is picking a fight with American allies in Europe in a way that plays into China's hands. He says Trump should "go after China, not the rest of the world."

A senior member of British Prime Minister Theresa May's Cabinet has chastised President Donald Trump for threatening a trade war with the European Union.

Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington's comments Sunday on the BBC came after Trump threatened to tax European cars if the EU boosts tariffs on American products in response to the president's plan to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Lidington says "the United States is not taking an advisable course in threatening a trade war," adding that "trade wars don't do anybody any good."

Lidington also says Britain's experience shows that protectionism doesn't work. He says when the U.K. tried to protect its car industry in the 1960s and '70s "we lost all our export markets" because other countries were more competitive.

A business leader wants President Donald Trump to have "the courage" to step back from his campaign rhetoric on trade.

The Business Roundtable's Josh Bolten, a chief of staff for President George W. Bush, tells "Fox News Sunday" that "every modern president has faced some trade skirmishes during their time but they've all been wise enough not to let it descend into outright trade war."

Bolten praises Trump for following through on campaign promises to cut taxes and federal regulations, but trade is another matter.

He says: "Sometimes a president needs to, you need to stick to your principles but you also need to recognize in cases where stuff you said in the campaign isn't right and ought to be drawn back. The president needs to have the courage to do that."

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro says President Donald Trump's planned steel and aluminum tariffs won't have any exemptions for certain countries.

Speaking on CNN's "State of the Union," Navarro says: "At this point in time there's no country exclusions."

American allies including Canada have protested the planned protectionist move by the president, saying they shouldn't be covered by Trump's planned 25 percent tariffs on steel and 10 percent on aluminum.

The Pentagon recommended "targeted" tariffs, so as not to upset partners. But Navarro says Trump decided on wide-ranging import charges because he seeks to boost American manufacturers.

"As soon as you exempt one country, then you have to exempt another country," Navarro says.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says "I believe so" when asked whether President Donald Trump will make a formal announcement this week about trade penalties on imported steel and aluminum.

There's been speculation Trump may consider exempting some U.S. allies. But Ross says, "As far as I know he's talking about a fairly broad brush. ... I have not heard him describe particular exemptions just yet."

Ross is dismissing the fallout from potential retaliation by the European Union.

He tells ABC's "This Week" that "sure there may be some sort of retaliation, but the amounts that they're taking about are also pretty trivial." He says the EU has threatened tariffs on $3 billion-plus worth of U.S. goods.

In Ross' words: 'Overall it's not going to be much more than a rounding error."

Few issues could blur the lines of partisanship in Trump-era Washington.

Trade is one of them.

President Donald Trump's announcement that he'll impose stiff tariffs on imported steel and aluminum has labor unions and liberal Democrats in the unusual position of applauding his approach.

Republicans and an array of business groups are warning of dire economic and political consequences if he goes ahead with the trade penalties.

Trade politics often cut along regional, rather than ideological, lines. That's because politicians reflect the interests of the hometown industries and workers.

But rarely does a debate open so wide a rift between a president and his party — leaving him almost exclusively with support from his ideological opposites.

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Republicans raise concern about U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to impose tariffs on metal imports. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan says he is "extremely worried" about the impact of a trade war, adding that it could "undermine economic gains".