President Trump’s tariffs may be about national security — but not in the way the president thinks

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Extract:

President Trump’s tariffs may be about national security — but not in the way the president thinks, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.

The gist: SecDef Mattis and SecState Tillerson privately warned senior trade officials Tuesday that President Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs could endanger the U.S. national security relationship with allies, five people familiar with the meeting told the Post.

The allies mentioned, even if only vaguely: Canada and Europe.A delicate phrasing of how this conversation happened: “In a broad discussion, the secretary raised concerns about tariffs that had been mentioned to him by some allies, or are likely to be mentioned,” said Steven Goldstein, the State Department’s undersecretary for public diplomacy [JB emphasis] and public affairs. After that conversation, Trump said the tariffs would still be imposed “lovingly.” Read on, here. ...