wants to continue working with south korea as a strong ally. we havekorea as a strong ally. we have no daylight between the two of us. we will continue conversations. the ultimate goal is to denuclearize the peninsula. that is what we are focused on. thank you so much. i am going to move out. the president will be speaking in a few moments. >> president trump met leaders of the steel and aluminum industry. he announced he is going to put tariffs on products with into the united states. there would be 25% tariff on

steel imports and 10% on aluminum. from the white house cabinet room, this is 10 minutes. pres. trump: we have the big steel and aluminum companies here today. , but theyto be big will be bigger. they have not been properly represented.

because of that, workers in our country have not been properly represented. we are going to build our steel industry back and we are going to build our aluminum industry back. you to hear from a couple of folks in the room. we will have a few speak and i might want to start with u.s. steel. a massive company years ago and got smaller and smaller. for 33with caterpillar years. he did a great job. they brought him in and he has been there for a short while. he wants to build it back up. dave, maybe you can say little bit to the room into the press about u.s. steel, where they were, where they are going, and what did you think of what we're going to do? >> thank you, mr. president. and thank you very much you for your leadership on this issue. and commerce secretary, thank you very much. this is vital to the interests of the united states. this is our moment. and it's really important that

we get this right. the alternatives that the commerce secretary presented were all good alternatives, and we trust your judgment. we believe the leadership this administration has shown on tax administration has shown on tax reform is simply outstanding. the elimination of bureaucracy is simply outstanding. we want a level playing field. it is for our employees to support our customers. and when we get this right it will be great for the united states of america. we have to get this done. pres. trump: and for your company, and for your workers and the security of our own nation, you like the tariffs we are talking about? you like the tariffs where they won't be dumping on our country.

what they do is they don't massive amounts of product in our country. it destroys our companies and jobs. it has been happening for years. we are not the beneficiary. you feel tariffs are the answer? >> yes, sir. the trans-shipments that go on are well aware of. we call it the whack a mole game. it is time for whack a mole to end. it is time for some fairness. it is past time. thank you. pres. trump: people have no idea how badly our country has been treated by other countries. people represent us who didn't have a clue. they should be ashamed. if they did, they should be ashamed of themselves because they destroy the steel industry, the aluminum industry, other industries. when you look at all the plans and automobile plants that moved to mexico for no reason whatsoever except we don't know what we are doing. we are bringing it back. john, can i ask you to say a few words? john: first of all, thank you for the work you have done as

secretary, we appreciate all the work that has been done on this issue. we believe very strongly it is time for decisive and meaningful action to stem the flood of illegally traded imports into this country and we are counting on the administration if all the -- to fulfill the promises that were made, and to give us a level playing field to compete. we have confidence. we have 20,000 teammates and i always say i am confident if they give a level playing field, they can compete with any country in the world. all we want is a level playing field. and today, we're not getting that. the cheating is phenomenal. the amount of circumvention that takes place is incredible. just look at last year. last year, mr. president, imports deep -- increased 15% in 2017 over 2016. once we initiated the beginning of the 232, other companies saw this as the need to get in before it went into effect. what we're asking for today is

fast action and action that will last. pres. trump: i tell the story about a couple of months ago, we put tariffs on washing machines coming into the country because they were dumping the machines all over the place and we had lost our manufacturing abilities for washing machines. now we have plants being built with a 30% tariff on it. and we have plants being built and nobody has seen that in many years. and it is happening at a rapid pace. same thing with the solar panels. we had 32 companies of which 30 companies were out of business. they were finished. -- they were closed. they were on mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. they were going to close pretty quickly. now they are doing better. and they are talking about opening seven or eight of the not even soat were old, solar panels. we weren't treated and we have not been treated fairly by other countries. but i don't blame the other

countries. when i was in china, i said listen, i have a lot of respect for president xi. i said i don't blame you. if you're are able to get away with making almost $500 billion a year off of our country, how could i blame you? somebody agreed to these deals. and those people should be ashamed of themselves. so we are bringing it back and we are bringing it back rapidly and we are going to be instituting tariffs. next week we will be signing. perhaps some of you folks will be here. when you have u.s. steel, you have the great aluminum companies represented at this table, they have been decimated. aluminum has been decimated in the country. perhaps you would say something as a great aluminum company that's been in business for long time. how about? >> thank you, mr. president, and secretary ross. thank you for the other members

here. we're in a situation where competing unfairly meant there has been capital depletion and a lack of investment is reflected in the loss of jobs in america. and it has all been a matter of unfair competition. and we need a level playing field or we are going to lose our manufacturing infrastructure and the national security issues that surround having a vibrant, capable manufacturing sector. pres. trump: we will take care of the situation, ok? steel and aluminum will see good things happen. we will have new jobs popping up. we're going to have much more vibrant companies. the rest will be up to management to make them truly great. if you could make u.s. steel like it used to be we will be very happy. i actually think it is possible. but you have a long way to go. i remember when i was growing up, u.s. steel was the ultimate company. today you have so many closed plants.

the nafta deal was a disaster for the country. the wto has been a disaster. the rise of china economically, if you look at it, directly equal to the date of the opening of the world trade organization. it has been great for china. terrible for the united states. and great for other countries but terrible for the united states. so we are talking about it, and two of the groups that i want to do some very fast action will probably have everything completed by next week. we will be imposing tariffs on steel imports and tariffs on aluminum imports and you are going to see a lot of good things happen. you are going to see expansions of the companies. david, you said you would be expanding. tim, you said you would be expanding. you will all pretty much immediately be expanding if we give you that level playing, field, if we give you that help.

you are going to hire more workers, and your workers are going to be very happy. they're going to be very, very happy. and again, what has been allowed to go on for decades is disgraceful. it is disgraceful. and when it comes to a time when our country can't make aluminum and steel, and somebody said it before and i will tell you, you almost don't have much of a country. because without steel and aluminum, your country is not the same. and we need it. we need it for defense. we need great steelmakers. great aluminum makers for defense. so we will probably see you sometime next week. we will be signing it in and you will have protection for the first time in a long while. and you're going to regrow your industries. that is all i am asking. you have to regrow your industries. mr. secretary, thank you very much for being here.

we appreciate it. mr. secretary, we appreciate it. we will see you next week. thank you, everybody. thank you very much. >> [indiscernible] pres. trump: a limited period. pres. trump: it will be 25% for steel, it will be 10% for aluminum. it will be for a long period of time. thank you very much, everybody. thank you. thank you very much. 25% for steel. 10% for aluminum. thank you. c-span, where history unfold

daily. in 1970 nine, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies. to bring youtinue unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court, and public policy events in the state and around the country. c-span is brought you by your cable or satellite provider. life friday on the c-span networks, at noon eastern, that funeral for billy graham at his home in north carolina. on c-span2 at 9:00 and eastern, a form on u.s.-israel relations and foreign policy. at 6:30, the libertarian students for liberty holding their annual conference. on c-span3 at 9:00 a.m., a discussion of trade policy under president trump administration.