US metal tariffs: Mexico and Canada may be exempt - BBC News

8/3/2018

US metal tariffs: Mexico and Canada may be exempt

The US is planning tariffs on metals - but may be hit in kind by other countries

Some countries may be exempt from US plans to impose tariffs on metal imports, the White House has announced.

The exemptions - on national security grounds - included Canada, Mexico, spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.

Reports, however, suggested the apparent softening of the US stance would last for only 30 days.

US President Donald Trump has said steel products will face a 25% tariff, with 10% on aluminium goods. He is expected to sign the plan on Thursday.

Mr Trump tweeted on Thursday morning that he was "looking forward" to a meeting later in the day on the matter.

@realDonaldTrump

Looking forward to 3:30 P.M. meeting today at the White House. We have to protect & build our Steel and Aluminum Industries while at the same time showing great flexibility and cooperation toward those that are real friends and treat us fairly on both trade and the military.

11:38 PM - Mar 8, 2018

Meanwhile, China threatened an "appropriate and necessary response" in any trade war with the US.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China and the US should strive to be partners rather than rivals.

The EU has proposed retaliatory measures against a number of US goods including bourbon and peanut butter.

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Despite opposition at home and abroad, Ms Sanders said the US president would sign the measures in by the end of the week.

But she added: "There are potential carve-outs for Mexico and Canada based on national security, and possibly other countries as well based on that process. That would be [on] a case-by-case and country by country basis."

President Trump has previously suggested that planned tariffs for Canada and Mexico could be abandoned if a "new and fair" North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) is signed.

White House trade policy adviser Peter Navarro said on Wednesday that the tariffs would start in 15 to 30 days' time and there would be "a clause that does not impose these tariffs immediately on Canada and Mexico". Both countries knew the president was not "messing around in this", he added.

Why is Mr Trump doing this?

Mr Trump has railed against the US trade deficit, arguing that other countries have been "taking advantage of" the US for decades.

One of his campaign promises was to rebuild the US steel and aluminium industries which he said has suffered "disgraceful" treatment from other countries, in particular cheap Chinese imports.

Skip Twitter post 2 by @realDonaldTrump

@realDonaldTrump

From Bush 1 to present, our Country has lost more than 55,000 factories, 6,000,000 manufacturing jobs and accumulated Trade Deficits of more than 12 Trillion Dollars. Last year we had a Trade Deficit of almost 800 Billion Dollars. Bad Policies & Leadership. Must WIN again!

10:40 PM - Mar 7, 2018

Last week he dismissed concerns he could trigger a trade war, instead saying "trade wars are good" and were something the US would easily win.

Mr Trump has already hinted he could drop plans to impose tariffs on Mexican and Canadian metals but linked it to the US getting a better deal in the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta).

Mexico and Canada are among the main suppliers of steel to the US.

What's the reaction been?

The US plans have sparked worldwide alarm and jolted stock markets.

Critics argue that the tariffs would fail to protect American jobs and would ultimately raise prices for consumers.

More than 100 Republicans on Wednesday signed a letter addressed to the president, expressing their "deep concern" about the tariffs.

The letter referenced a sweeping tax cuts bill Congress and the White House worked to pass last year, arguing that "adding new taxes in the form of broad tariffs would undermine the remarkable progress".

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde warned "nobody wins" in a trade war, saying it would harm global economic growth.

The EU has set out tit-for-tat plans to impose import duties on bourbon, peanut butter, cranberries, orange juice, steel, and industrial products. Other countries are also considering retaliatory steps.

Members of Mr Trump's Republican party are concerned too, with House Speaker Paul Ryan saying he wanted to see tariffs that were "more surgical and more targeted".

Tuesday saw the departure of top White House economic advisor Gary Cohn, who is a strong supporter of free trade.

Stormy Daniels: Trump lawyer obtains restraining order - BBC News

8/3/2018

Stormy Daniels: Trump lawyer obtains restraining order

Stormy Daniels says she began a relationship with Mr Trump in 2006

US President Donald Trump obtained a restraining order against an adult film actress to prevent her from speaking publicly about their alleged affair, legal documents show.

Mr Trump's personal lawyer obtained the order against Stormy Daniels in private arbitration proceedings last month.

It bars her from sharing "confidential information" about their alleged relationship, US media report.

Mr Trump says allegations against him are all false.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters on Wednesday that the president had won arbitration proceedings against the actress, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

"This case has already been won in arbitration and anything beyond that, I would refer you to the president's outside counsel," she said.

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But the attorney representing Ms Clifford told CBS News that he was "dumbfounded" by the White House's comment.

"For the White House spokesperson to stand up and claim that Trump won the case in arbitration is ludicrous," Michael Avenatti said.

"How do you win something when the other side is not even invited?" he said.

Mr Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, emailed the restraining order to Ms Clifford's legal team on 28 February, according to NBC News.

"The document itself is to remain confidential and not to be disclosed to anyone as per the terms of the judge's order," the email said.

Details of the restraining order have emerged a day after Ms Clifford filed a lawsuit against Mr Trump, alleging that a non-disclosure contract she signed was invalid.

She said the agreement, drawn up before the 2016 election, was "void" because he had not signed it.

The civil lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles on Tuesday, says that only days before the election, Ms Clifford and Mr Cohen signed a "hush agreement" but Mr Trump did not, "thus rendering it legally null and void and of no consequence".

It also refers to last month's "bogus arbitration proceeding" where the restraining order was obtained by Mr Cohen.

The order, issued on 27 February, bars Ms Clifford from sharing any information related to the non-disclosure agreement.

Mr Cohen confirmed last month that he had privately paid Ms Clifford $130,000 (£95,000) but did not say what it was for.

He said neither Mr Trump nor the Trump Organization was a party to this transaction.

Russian spy: Attack was 'brazen and reckless', says Amber Rudd - BBC News

9/3/2018

Russian spy: Attack was 'brazen and reckless', says Amber Rudd

Mr Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were found unconscious

The attempted murder of ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, using a nerve agent was a "brazen and reckless attack", Amber Rudd has said.

Both Mr Skripal and his daughter are still critically ill after being found collapsed on a bench in Salisbury city centre on Sunday.

Counter-terrorism officers are working to find the origin of the nerve agent.

A police officer, who was in intensive care, is now "stable and conscious", Wiltshire's chief constable said.

Addressing the House of Commons, the home secretary said the attack was "attempted murder in the most cruel and public way".

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Ms Rudd told MPs it was an "outrageous crime", adding that the government would "act without hesitation as the facts become clearer".

She refused to speculate on whether the Russian state might have been involved in the attack, saying the police investigation should be based on "facts, not rumour".

However, she said the government was committed to bringing the perpetrators to justice "whoever they are and wherever they may be".

A Downing Street spokesman described the attack as an "appalling and reckless crime" and said those responsible would face a "robust" response.

Media captionHome secretary: Poisoning "brazen and reckless"

Earlier, Ms Rudd said the nerve agent used in the poisoning was "very rare".

Police said government scientists had identified the nerve agent used, but would not make that information public at this stage.

The source familiar with the investigation told the BBC it was likely to be rarer than the Sarin gas thought to have been used in Syria and in an attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995.

And it was said not to be VX - the nerve agent used to kill the half brother of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Malaysia last year.

Analysis

Image copyrightPA

By Gordon Corera, BBC security correspondent

The fact the nerve agent is "very rare" will help the investigation narrow its focus.

Making nerve agents and delivering them requires considerable infrastructure and the more unusual the agent the easier it will be to locate which country, even which laboratory, might be involved.

That combined with police leads on who delivered the agent will form the basis for a determination of responsibility, along with any other intelligence that can be gathered.

It may take days - even weeks - for the government to be confident enough to make a public statement, because it will not want to risk getting any details wrong.

But if suspicions about Russia are confirmed, then some kind of action seems inevitable.

The legacy of the 2006 Litvinenko case shows that expelling diplomats alone may not be regarded as much of a deterrent to future acts.

Economic sanctions on the Russian elite may have more bite, but would require greater political will.

Mr Skripal, 66, was convicted of passing secrets to MI6 but was given refuge in the UK in 2010 as part of a "spy swap".

It is known that he and his 33-year-old daughter had visited the Mill pub and Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury on Sunday afternoon, before they were found collapsed on a bench near the Maltings shopping centre.

A witness, who saw the pair at the restaurant, told the BBC Mr Skripal was acting "very strange" and was "very agitated".

"He seemed to lose his temper... and he just started screaming at the top of his voice, he wanted his bill and he wanted to go."

Police have yet to say if they know how and where the poison was administered.

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Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said Russia was becoming an "ever greater threat", amid speculation the attack could have some element of state involvement.

"Russia's being assertive, Russia's being more aggressive, and we have to change the way that we deal with it because we can't be in a situation in these areas of conflict where we are being pushed around by another nation," he told ITV's Good Morning Britain.

Police said they wanted to speak to anyone who was in the centre of Salisbury on Sunday afternoon.

They are particularly keen to hear from people who ate at Zizzi or drank in the Mill pub between 13:00 and 16:00 GMT.

Both sites remain closed to the public.

Media captionThe victims were "targeted specifically" - Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley

BBC correspondent Leila Nathoo said there had been "a flurry of activity" outside Mr Skripal's Salisbury home at lunchtime.

She said ambulances and an incident response team were in attendance and a police tent had been erected outside the house.

Part of a business park in nearby Amesbury also remains cordoned off.

Speaking on Wednesday, Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said: "This is being treated as a major incident involving attempted murder, by administration of a nerve agent.

He said Mr Skripal and his daughter were "targeted specifically".

"Our role now of course is to establish who is behind this and why they carried out this act," he added.

Nerve agents are highly toxic chemicals that stop the nervous system working and shut down bodily functions.

They normally enter the body through the mouth or nose, but can also be absorbed through the eyes or skin.

Mr Rowley said there was no evidence of a widespread health risk to the public.

CCTV has emerged of Sergei Skripal at a shop in Salisbury just five days before he and his daughter collapsed

Hundreds of detectives, forensic officers, analysts and intelligence officers are working on the case, which has drawn comparison with the killing of Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko with radioactive polonium-210 in London in 2006.

A public inquiry concluded his death was probably carried out with the approval of President Vladimir Putin.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson told MPs on Tuesday the UK would respond "robustly" to any evidence of Russian "state responsibility" in the Skripal case.

Russia has insisted it has "no information" about what could have led to the incident, but is open to co-operating with British police if requested.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said foreign media had used the case as part of an anti-Russian campaign.

Who is Sergei Skripal?

Image caption

Sergei Skripal, 66, had been living in Salisbury after being released by Russia in 2010

Sergei Skripal is a retired Russian military intelligence colonel who was jailed for 13 years by Russia in 2006.

He was convicted of passing the identities of Russian intelligence agents working undercover in Europe to the UK's Secret Intelligence Service, MI6.

In July 2010, he was one of four prisoners released by Moscow in exchange for 10 Russian spies arrested by the FBI.

After a Cold War-style spy swap at Austria's Vienna airport, Mr Skripal moved to Salisbury, where he kept a low profile for eight years.