Trump aides eye 'several offramps' to backpedal on key campaign policy: report

Donald Trump’s threat of imposing tariffs on Canada and Mexico may not be as expansive as the president previously laid out on the campaign trail and in the days since his inauguration, according to a report Thursday.

The new development comes as Trump’s advisers explore “several offramps” to avoid moving forward on universal tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports – even while he continues to warn that the tariffs are on the way, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The discussions are still evolving, and Trump may very well follow through with his plan to impose a 25% levy on all imports from Canada and Mexico, the report said. Trump has said it would happen by Saturday.

“But amid ongoing negotiations with Canada and Mexico, the administration appears undecided on whether to impose tariffs on all imports from those countries, the people familiar with the matter said, adding that administration officials are preparing to opt for more targeted measures instead,” according to the Journal.

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That includes “some sort of trade action” over the weekend, but it may be thinned out to include only certain sectors, such as steel and aluminum, and incorporate significant exemptions such as oil, the report noted.

Another possibility includes the administration announcing new tariffs but with the caveat of a grace period before they are carried out. That would allow negotiations with Canada and Mexico to continue, the Journal said.

A federal judge's order that temporarily blocked an Office of Management and Budget memo that sought a federal funding freeze on grants and loans was also said to have given some White House officials pause to follow through with using emergency powers for tariffs.

"The injunction on the OMB action has caused some White House officials to second guess their plans to impose tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, said people familiar with planning," according to the Journal. "Policymakers don’t want to risk having an IEEPA action enjoined now, when they may potentially use it in the future on other countries."

There is also a behind-the-scenes effort from the United Steelworkers to push Trump "to back away from across-the-board tariffs," according to the report.