Trump said on Thursday that a plan for protectionist tariffs of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum goods would be announced next week, following up on Twitter on Friday by calling trade wars“good, and easy to win.”

Trump’s statements have blunted efforts to renegotiate the 1990s-era North American Free Trade Agreement, which had already been disrupted by the early departure of a U.S. official handling one of the most divisive subjects, content rules for autos. Trump has a range of options based on a report by the Deparment of Commerce with duties options of at least 24 percent on all steel products from all countries, and at least 7.7 percent on all aluminum products from all countries. Blindsided by Trump’s steel announcement, participants at the talks are looking ahead to Monday’s scheduled meeting between U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Canada’s Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and Mexico’s Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo for clarity on the path forward. * No decision on steel, aluminum tariffs as Trump meets industry

* Duties would be major hit to China

* Studies show few jobs likely to be created

WASHINGTON, March 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is holding a“listening session” with steel and aluminum executives on Thursday but he will not announce a final decision on whether to impose tariffs on imports of the products, officials in the White House said. “You eliminate or substantially tax a good portion of supply, and the overall price, the domestic price, rises.”

The American International Automobile Dealers Association said it fears that the tariffs would send car prices up “substantially.” U.S. auto sales plateaued in 2016 at 17.5 million vehicles a year. Shares of Asian steel producers such as South Korea’s POSCO and Nippon Steel fell overnight, while those of U.S. producers AK Steel, US Steel Corp and Nucor - jumped on prospects of import tariffs.
U.S. President Donald Trump announces plans to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.