Businesses Urge Trump Tariffs on Asia, None on Canada and Mexico

Business groups are urging the Trump administration not to erect trade barriers against North America and instead to focus on China and other Asian countries, which they say are chief culprits harming competition.

Representatives of industries ranging from chemicals to book production said that their sectors are highly integrated with those in Canada and Mexico, making any action on America’s neighbors deeply disruptive. But state-backed imports from China and Southeast Asia are harming US operations and should be the target of any new tariffs, they said.

“Imposing a new tariff in the USMCA zone will drive up costs on tires ...