钢铁和铝的关税, 在某种程度上, designed to coerce Canada and Mexico into agreeing to a rewrite of North American free trade pact.
 

华盛顿(美联社)——陷入与美国贸易争端的僵局.S. 竞争对手中国, President Donald Trump took steps Friday to ease tensions with America's allies — lifting import taxes on Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum and delaying auto 关税s that would have hurt Japan and Europe.

取消对加拿大和墨西哥的金属关税, Trump cleared a key roadblock to a North American trade pact his team negotiated last year. 作为周五安排的一部分, the Canadians and Mexicans agreed to scrap retaliatory 关税s they had imposed on U.S. 货物.

"I'm pleased to announce that we've just reached an agreement with Canada and Mexico, and we'll be selling our product into those countries without the imposition of 关税s, 或者主要关税,特朗普在全国房地产经纪人协会的一次演讲中说道.

在一份联合声明中，美国政府表示.S. and Canada said they would work to prevent cheap imports of steel and aluminum from entering North America. 该条款似乎针对的是中国, 谁长期以来一直被指责向世界市场倾销补贴金属, 压低了世界价格，损害了美国经济.S. 生产商. The countries could also reimpose the 关税s if they faced a "surge" in steel or aluminum imports.

在华盛顿，一些人敦促特朗普利用与美国的休战.S. 对中国采取更强硬的态度.

他说:“中国是我们的对手. 本·萨斯，内布拉斯加州共和党. “加拿大和墨西哥是我们的朋友. 总统对中国的间谍活动加大压力是正确的, 他们盗窃知识产权, 以及他们对法治的敌意. The president is also right to be deescalating tension with our North American allies."

星期五早些时候, the White House said Trump is delaying for six months any decision to slap 关税s on foreign cars, 此举将对日本和欧洲造成尤其严重的打击.

Trump still is hoping to use the threat of auto 关税s to pressure Japan and the European Union into making concessions in ongoing trade talks. “如果180天内不能达成协议, 总统将决定是否以及需要采取何种进一步行动,白宫新闻秘书萨拉·桑德斯在一份声明中说.

征收金属关税并威胁对汽车征收关税, 总统依靠的是一种在美国很少使用的武器.S. trade war arsenal — Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 — which lets the president impose 关税s on imports if the Commerce Department deems them a threat to national security.

But the steel and aluminum 关税s were also designed to coerce Canada and Mexico into agreeing to a rewrite of North American free trade pact. 事实上, the Canadians and Mexicans did go along last year with a revamped regional trade deal that was to Trump's liking. But the administration had refused to lift the taxes on their metals coming into the United States until Friday.

新的贸易协定——美墨贸易协定.S.美墨加协议需要得到美国立法机构的批准.S.加拿大和墨西哥. 几个关键U.S. 议员们威胁说，除非取消关税，否则他们将拒绝该协议. And Canada had suggested it wouldn't ratify any deal with 关税s still in place.

托马斯·多诺霍，美国总统.S. 商会, said the lifting of the 关税s "will bring immediate relief to American farmers and manufacturers. Critically, this action delivers a welcome burst of momentum for the USMCA in Congress."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau credited his government for holding out to get the 关税s removed.

“我们保持强势，”他说. “这是工人们所要求的. 这些关税在国家安全方面没有意义. They were hurting Canadian consumers, Canadian workers and American consumers and American workers."

周六是特朗普决定如何处理汽车关税的最后期限.

Taxing auto 关税s would mark a major escalation in Trump's aggressive trade policies and likely would meet resistance in Congress. 美国nited States last year imported $192 billion worth of passenger vehicles and $159 billion in auto parts.

"I have serious questions about the legitimacy of using national security as a basis to impose 关税s on cars and car parts,爱荷华州共和党参议员. Chuck Grassley, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement Friday. He's working on legislation to scale back the president's authority to impose national security 关税s under Section 232.

在声明中, the White House said that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has determined that imported vehicles and parts are a threat to national security. Trump deferred action on 关税s for 180 days to give negotiators time to work out deals but threatened them if talks break down.

在证明以国家安全为由征收关税的合理性时，美国商务部发现.S. industrial base depends on technology developed by American-owned auto companies to maintain U.S. 军事优势. Because of rising imports of autos and parts over the past 30 years, the market share of U.S.美国所有的汽车制造商纷纷下滑. That has caused a lag in research and development spending which is "weakening innovation and, 相应的, 威胁到我们的国家安全,声明说.

在美国生产和销售的汽车的市场份额.S. by American-owned automakers, the statement said, has declined from 67% in 1985 to 22% in 2017.

但统计数据与该行业的市场份额数据不符. A message was left Friday seeking an explanation of how Commerce calculated the 22%.

2017年，通用汽车、福特、菲亚特克莱斯勒和特斯拉的销量加起来为44.5%的份额.S. 汽车数据公司(Autodata Corp .)的数据显示. 这些数字包括在其他国家生产的汽车.

有可能商务部没有把菲亚特克莱斯勒包括在内, which is now legally headquartered in The Netherlands but has a huge research and development operation near Detroit. 它拥有12%的美国国债.S. 2017年汽车销量.

商务部的数据也不包括外国汽车制造商的研究. Toyota, Hyundai-Kia, Subaru, Honda and others have significant research centers in the U.S.

与此同时，特朗普陷入了与中国的高风险争斗. 美国.S. accuses Beijing of stealing trade secrets and forcing American companies to hand over technology in a head-long push to challenge American technological dominance. The two countries have slapped 关税s on hundreds of billions of dollars in each other's products. 谈判于上周破裂，没有达成任何决议.

The hostilities between the world's two biggest economies have weighed heavily the past couple of weeks on the U.S. stock market, threatening a long rally that Trump touted as a vindication of his economic policies. Opening a new front in the trade wars against EU and Japan likely would have worried investors even more.