Washington – Earlier today, President Donald Trump announced he impose a 25 percent tariff on steel and 10 percent on aluminum, with exceptions for Canada and Mexico. Trump’s authority to impose the tariffs is based on a law that gives the president the power to restrict trade on the basis of national security interests.

During the announcement, the President said of additional exceptions, “If the same goals can be accomplished by other means, America will remain open to modifying or removing tariffs for individual nations, as long as we can agree on a way to ensure that their products no longer threaten our security.”

Immediately following the announcement, Crawford released the following statement:

“Our domestic steel industry has already been on the losing side of a trade war for years. I support the President’s decision to take action against countries illegally subsidizing and trans-shipping while providing exceptions for nations who can prove they aren’t undermining an industry critical to our national security.”