Will Trump’s ‘Job-Killing’ Steel Tariffs Push Gary Cohn Out Of The White House?
President Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports puts his top economic adviser, Gary Cohn, who opposed the tariffs, in a difficult position. Cohn is rumored to have been mulling resigning for some time, but stayed to stop Trump from imposing high tariffs.
Politico reports that Cohn had been lobbying Trump for months to stop him from implementing tariffs.
On Thursday, Trump announced plans for a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports.
The move drew howls of outrage from pro-business Republicans, who branded it a “job-killer,” along with consumer advocates and close allies like Canada. It also sparked a fresh nosedive on Wall Street, especially after Treump tweeted that a trade war would be “good.”
After the violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia last summer, Cohn was critical of Trump, and was reported to have considered resigning, but stayed to push through the recent tax reform bill, according to Politico.
The tariff announcement ended weeks of heavy debate over the policy, which pitted Cohn against White House trade advisor who favors the tariffs.
If Cohn departs, it would weaken the moderate influence in the White House, including Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. Cohn, a Democrat, has long been a target of Conservative influences in the White House, who reportedly opposed proposals that Cohn become chief of staff.
Contact Avichai Scher at [email protected] or on Twitter, @avi_scher
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO