With just a few hours to go until temporary tariff exemptions were due to expire, US President Donald Trump has decided to delay the tariff decision for several countries, officials said on Monday.

The Trump administration will extend temporary steel and aluminum tariff exemptions for the European Union, Canada and Mexico until June 1, the White House confirmed in a statement. Reuters news agency and The Wall Street Journal first reported on the decision.

Read more: German minister — EU should not risk trade war with US over tariffs dispute

The US has also reached an agreement "in principle" with Australia, Argentina and Brazil concerning aluminum and steel imports, the statement said. A deal to permanently exempt South Korea from the steel tariffs has also been finalized.

The temporary tariff exemptions were due to expire at midnight US Eastern Standard Time (0400 UTC), after which the US allied countries would face import duties of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum.

Continued 'uncertainty' for businesses

Erik Brattberg, director of the Europe Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told DW that Trump's move to delay the decision will likely only exasperate tensions with Brussels in the long run.

"Although this is obviously a temporary sigh of relief for European leaders, it will do little to satisfy their concerns about Trump's trade policies. The fact that Europe ducked the tariff bullet another time may only be due to active outreach and diplomatic pressure from European leaders," Brattberg said.

Read more: Protectionism: from Bismarck to Trump

Mary Lovely, an economics professor at Syracuse University and senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said the decision may have bought politicians more time, but the uncertainty is bad for businesses.

"The extension of temporary exemptions is not in itself costless. People trying to make investments don't see this as costless, because it adds a great deal of uncertainty into their business operation," she said.

Read more: Germany, the US and non-free trade

Heated Trump tariff dispute reaches tipping point A presidential proclamation Flanked by steel workers, US President Donald Trump signed a presidential proclamation on global metal tariffs in March, claiming that subsidized imports were damaging domestic producers. The measures were targeted primarily at overproduction by China but, in a tweet, Trump also described the European Union as "wonderful countries who treat the US very badly on trade."

Heated Trump tariff dispute reaches tipping point Glut on the market Heavy tariffs had been recommended on China, Russia and other countries by the US Commerce Department. It said that normal methods used to prevent dumping of products at low prices onto US markets had failed. Although China was singled out as particularly responsible for causing the glut in steel and aluminum, the recommendation was that other countries should also take a hit.

Heated Trump tariff dispute reaches tipping point Escalating dispute China said it would respond to the US plans to impose tariff by adding a 25 percent tariff on products from the US — including pork, wine, apples and ginseng. Washington hit back with a list of technological targets to be slapped with new duties, with Beijing then imposing duties on soybeans — a product for which China is US producers' main market.

Heated Trump tariff dispute reaches tipping point South Korea makes concessions Among the countries hit by the tariffs was South Korea, which agreed to cut steel exports to the US by 30 percent and accept extended tariffs on South Korea pickup trucks by the US. Seoul also said it would open up its car market more widely to the US, its second-largest trading partner. The Trump administration had instigated talks last year to renegotiate its KORUS trade deal with the US.

Heated Trump tariff dispute reaches tipping point Europe on one page The leaders of France, Britain and Germany said they would be ready to retaliate if the EU were not permanently exempted from the tariffs. According to the office of French President Emmanuel Macron, he had discussed the tariffs with Chancellor Angela Merkel and Prime Minister Theresa May. The three hoped the US wouldn't take measures "contrary to transatlantic interests," a spokesperson said.

Heated Trump tariff dispute reaches tipping point Icons of America Before the US introduced its temporary waiver on the tariffs for the EU, Brussels had threatened Washington with raising duties on some particularly iconic American goods. They included US bourbon, peanut butter, Harley Davidson motorcycles and blue jeans.

Heated Trump tariff dispute reaches tipping point North American neighbors It's expected that Canada and Mexico could receive longer tariff exemptions. That's because negotiations over the levies have become intertwined with talks about the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Author: Richard Connor



Looming trade fight with EU

Trump already imposed the tariffs in March, but granted temporary exemptions to the EU, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Argentina and Brazil.

South Korea managed to secure its permanent exemption after agreeing to slash its steel exports to the US by around 30 percent.

Read more: EU drags US to WTO over steel, aluminum tariffs

The US administration has justified issuing the tariffs, which are aimed primarily at China, on national security grounds. Washington also told its allies that they must make concessions in order to obtain a permanent exemption.

In a tit-for-tat move, the EU has said it will impose its own tariffs on US exports, including bourbon, motorcycles, peanut butter and makeup. Brussels has said it will not agree to concessions until it first secures an exemption.

On Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said any move to impose tariffs on Canada would be a "very bad idea." Canada is the largest steel importer into the US.

Additional reporting by Michael Knigge.

rs/cmk (AP, AFP, Reuters)

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