Trump Advisers Fervently Defend Tariffs (Unless They Change, That Is)<br />By ANA SWANSONMARCH 4, 2018<br />WASHINGTON — The White House continued to sow uncertainty on Sunday about the stiff tariffs President Trump said he would impose on steel<br />and aluminum imports as key advisers defended the policy but left room for the president to change his plans.<br />“As soon as he starts exempting countries, he has to raise the tariff on everybody else,” Mr. Navarro said on “Fox News<br />Sunday.” “As soon as he exempts one country, his phone starts ringing from the heads of state of other countries.”<br />But Mr. Navarro left room for change in the timing of the tariffs, which the president said would be signed this week.<br />“You’re letting China off the hook,” Mr. Graham said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “China wins when we fight with Europe.”<br />Joshua B. Bolten, the head of the Business Roundtable and chief of staff in the George W. Bush administration, called the tariffs “a huge mistake.”<br />Speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” Mr. Bolten acknowledged<br />that the president was trying to fulfill his campaign promises and help American workers in the steel and aluminum industries.<br />Mr. Trump rattled stock markets last week with his impromptu announcement<br />that he would impose tariffs of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum imports and as business executives said the president would make no country exceptions.
