Trump prides himself on taking to Twitter – imposing tariffs and hammering out trade deals that bolster his economic agenda and “America First” policy. But his early morning tweets from Washington took the two countries by surprise, reports Reuters.
Trump tweeted: “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.”
The Trump administration had originally exempted the two countries from the 25 percent steel tariffs and the 10 percent aluminum tariffs. In March 2018, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told Congress Trump has decided to “pause” implementation of the tariffs because the countries were in the middle of trade talks with the U.S.
Trump also wants the Federal Reserve to take some sort of action to keep other countries from devaluing their currencies because this hurts American farmers and manufacturers.
“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 tweeted.
Hitting on the Federal Reserve is nothing new as far as Trump is concerned, reports CBS News. He also targets Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Trump has accused the Federal Reserve of holding back economic growth and has pushed for the Fed to go with negative or zero growth rates.
The United States has bought more steel from Brazil than any other country besides Canada during the first nine months of this year, according to CNN News. However, both Brazil and Argentina are benefiting from Trump’s trade war with China. After Beijing imposed tariffs on U.S. soybeans, China looked to Brazil.
When Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro visited the White House earlier this year, Trump hailed Brazil as a non-Nato ally. And in an announcement from the US-Brazil CEO Forum earlier this month, it was said the two countries were working to strengthen the US-Brazil economic relationship.
