US Drops Steel, Aluminum Tariffs

May 20, 2019—President Donald Trump has eliminated tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada and Mexico and in return Canada and Mexico have lifted tariffs on items like whiskey and cheese, reported NPR.

The President has a new, revised version of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that he negotiated with Canada and Mexico and claims is good for the auto parts industry, according to the report. The new treaty is called the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The new treaty still has to be approved by Congress.

NPR's Jim Zarroli shares the impact the tariffs had over the last year:

"The steel industry loved them because once you cut off imports, the price of steel went up for a while," he claimed. "Later on, though, it came down. But there was a huge downside because once you make steel and aluminum more expensive, it hurts all the other industries that use them in their own manufacturing like automakers. ... 

"A lot of them saw their prices rise. So there was a lot of pressure on the administration to reduce these tariffs. And it came from these industries, but it also came from members of Congress."