Breaking News: Trump says he'll meet with North Korea's Kim by May: South Korea

View in your browser     Trump says he'll meet with North Korea's Kim by May: South Korea President Trump expressed willingness to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by May, South Korea’s national security adviser said Thursday night. Chung Eui-yong made the announcement during a news conference outside the White House after meeting with Trump administration officials. Read the full story here         Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Breaking News     Forward Breaking News     You Might Like       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2016 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Overnight Finance: Trump signs tariffs, defying GOP | Republicans look to narrow tariffs | Vote on Dodd-Frank rollback pushed to next week | Trump says Cohn could return to WH

View in your browser     Happy Thursday and welcome back to Overnight Finance, where we're digging in for a busy start to next week. I'm Sylvan Lane, and here's your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line. See something I missed? Let me know at slane@thehill.com or tweet me @SylvanLane. And if you like your newsletter, you can subscribe to it here: http://bit.ly/1NxxW2N.   THE BIG DEAL: President Trump on Thursday officially announced steep tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, defying his own party and delivering on a campaign promise to fight what he sees as unfair practices by U.S. trading partners. Trump signed paperwork enacting tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum during a hastily arranged event at the White House. "Today, I am defending America's national security by placing tariffs on foreign imports of steel and aluminum," Trump said in the Roosevelt Room, flanked by steel and aluminum workers.  Trump called the struggles of domestic steel and aluminum industry a "travesty." "This has been an assault on our country," he said.  The president temporarily exempted Canada and Mexico from the tariffs, arguing his administration would continue talks with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners. Trump has separately discussed withdrawing the United States from NAFTA. The Hill's Jordan Fabian and Vicki Needham tell us everything you need to know about the announcement.   Trump is facing a revolt in the GOP over his plan. Republicans in Congress are trying to get the president limit the potential economic damage by excluding U.S. allies from the tariffs or by targeting the trade action toward China. Trump said he would flexible with countries that offer better trading terms to the U.S. "I'll have a right to go up or down depending on the country and I'll have a right to drop out countries or add countries. I just want fairness, because we have not been treated fairly by other countries," he said.   Reactions "I disagree with this action and fear its unintended consequences." -- House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). "Simply put: This is a tax hike on American manufacturers, workers and consumers." -- Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). "These so-called 'flexible tariffs' are a marriage of two lethal poisons to economic growth – protectionism and uncertainty." -- Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who pledged to introduce a bill to block the tariffs. "It is imperative that we target these rogue players to remedy the situation instead of implementing across-the-board tariffs that are effectively taxes." -- Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.), chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a caucus of more than 100 House conservatives. "Tariffs won't start a trade war, there's 435 of them in place today to fight trade cheaters. People may not like how Pres Trump rolled these out, but I applaud him for trying." -- AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka in a tweet. "America's steel and aluminium workers and companies will stabilize after years of unfair competition, regain market share and even hire more workers." -- Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing.   What comes next: Republicans opposed to the tariffs will spent the foreseeable future pushing Trump to relent, exploring options to undo or narrow the taxes, and manage the impact they could have on the U.S. economy. U.S. trading partners will begin asking for exemptions to the tariffs, and those who don't get a break will likely retaliate with taxes on U.S imports. The Hill's Jordain Carney has more on what GOP leaders may do next.   So what? Republicans are seriously on edge about what Trump's tariffs, the departure of Gary Cohn and the ascendance of protectionist trade advisers within the White House. All of that has left lawmakers worried about what could come next and whether Trump might follow through on threats to rip up the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico or limit car imports from Europe. The Hill's Alexander Bolton tells us more about the GOP's angst.     LEADING THE DAY Dodd-Frank rollback delayed: The Senate has pushed a final vote on legislation weakening the Dodd-Frank financial reform law until next week after failing to reach a deal on amendment votes. A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday that Republicans and Democrats were unable to agree on which of the more than 100 amendments to the bill would get votes. The Senate will vote on a series of amendments "early next week," the spokesman said. The underlying measure is expected to pass with bipartisan support despite opposition from liberal Democrats, and the battle over amendments isn't likely to change the final outcome. I explain here what's holding everything up, and when we could see some action.   Hensarling: Not impressed: The House pointman on all things banking wants influence over the Senate bill. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) said the substitute amendment, which contains eight bills passed by his panel, does not reflect the will of the House. Hensarling cited more than two-dozen bills from the Financial Services Committee that passed with bipartisan support that he wants added to the Senate package. "We were glad to see eight of our bipartisan House-passed bills are now included," added Sarah Flaim, a spokeswoman for Hensarling. "However, there are many more strongly bipartisan bills ... that were curiously left out. Chairman Hensarling remains committed to ensuring that the House's voice is heard." So what? Hensarling's opinion of the bill could influence whether or not it comes the House floor. Speaker Ryan is notoriously deferential to his committee chairmen, and many House Republicans share Hensarling's concerns with the bill. But the pressure is building to pass Dodd-Frank rollback while the stars are aligned, and it's possible that House leadership brings the bill forward over his objections. It wouldn't be the first time that Hensarling was overruled by his own party. He was forced to remove a repeal of the Dodd-Frank fee on credit and debit card swipes from his Dodd-Frank rewrite last year, and was steamrolled by Republicans who wanted to preserve the Export-Import Bank in 2015.   Tunnel vision: The Trump administration has threatened to veto a massive government funding package if it includes money for a rail and tunnel project in the Northeast, sources told The Hill. The White House has made clear that is doesn't support the multibillion-dollar Gateway Project, which has been a top priority for New York and New Jersey-area lawmakers like Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Appropriations Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.).  "The administration has been very clear that we don't think this is an efficient use of taxpayer dollars," a senior administration official said in a statement. "Any official position on the legislation would be issued through a Statement of Administration Policy (SAP)." The Hill's Melanie Zanona and Mallory Shelbourne take us inside the showdown.   Pelosi says gun control, DACA shouldn't be in funding deal: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that there's no need to tackle immigration or gun reform as part of a sweeping spending package poised for a vote as early as next week. "None of these bills has to be part of the omnibus," Pelosi told reporters in the Capitol. She's urging the Republicans to bring those issues to the floor as separate, stand-alone bills -- a strategy GOP leaders have repeatedly refused. The Hill's Mike Lillis explains why.   MARKET CHECK: Resilient. Despite Trump's signing of tariffs that shook Wall Street with fears of an impending trade war, all three major U.S. stock indexes closed with modest gains Thursday. The Dow Jones industrial, Nasdaq, and Standard & Poor's 500 indexes finished with roughly 0.4 percent gains each.   GOOD TO KNOW  China vowed to make a "justified and necessary response" to tariffs President Trump's tariffs. Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Thursday that Congress will tackle an infrastructure overhaul in "five or six bills" this year, dealing a blow to President Trump's push for a $1.5 trillion rebuilding package. Eleven Pacific Rim nations gathered in Chile on Thursday to sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a massive free-trade agreement that the United States abandoned more than a year ago. The tax law President Trump signed in December costs about $1.2 trillion over 10 years after accounting for its economic effects, two Harvard University economists with different opinions of the law estimated in a new paper. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday sought to clarify her past comments calling bonuses from the GOP tax plan "crumbs," saying "we are thankful whenever workers get bonuses." Trump's proposed 25 percent tariff on steel imports could cost the U.S. auto industry 45,000 jobs, equivalent to almost a third of the entire steel industry's workforce, according to a study by the Council on Foreign Relations.    ODDS AND ENDS Trump said Thursday he still likes departing top economic adviser Gary Cohn and suggested he could return to the administration in a different role. Steel worker corrects Trump: My dad is still alive     Join The Hill on Wednesday, March 21, for Leadership in Action: The Hill's Newsmaker Series featuring Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Reps. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.), and Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.). RSVP Here     Write us with tips, suggestions and news: slane@thehill.com, vneedham@thehill.com, njagoda@thehill.com, and nelis@thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @SylvanLane,  @VickofTheHill, @NJagoda, and @NivElis.         Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Finance Newsletters     Forward Finance Newsletters       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2016 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Overnight Energy: Trump supporters split on elephant trophies policy | House votes to ease coal pollution rule | Home Depot to pay $27M fine over hazardous waste

View in your browser     TRUMP ALLIES SPLIT ON ELEPHANT TROPHIES: The Trump administration's decision to reverse course on an Obama-era ban on African elephant trophy imports is facing pushback from some allies of President Trump. While hunting advocacy groups and members of Congress who back them are cheering the decision from the Department of Interior's Wildlife Service (FWS) to allow imports on a case-by-case basis, others are knocking the move. Two conservative media hosts who pushed Trump in November to put a pause on a decision to overturn an established trophy import ban are among those urging him to hold up the Obama-era order. Fox News host Laura Ingraham tweeted a plea to Trump on Wednesday asking him to change the new policy and warning him of what could happen to supporters if he did not. "Please @realDonaldTrump, stick with your good instinct on this. We do NOT want to reward animal poaching. You will alienate independents & conservationists! #RespectAllofGodsEarth," she tweeted. Ingraham previously tweeted at Trump in November saying, "I don't understand how this move by @realDonaldTrump Admin will not INCREASE the gruesome poaching of elephants. Stay tuned." The next day, facing widespread backlash over the move, Trump tweeted saying he was putting a hold on the decision. Read more here.     HOUSE PASSES BILL TO LOOSEN COAL WASTE EMISSIONS STANDARDS: The House voted Thursday to loosen certain air pollution standards for a specific kind of coal-fired power plant. The Satisfying Energy Needs and Saving the Environment Act, which passed 215 to 189, would set less stringent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards for hydrogen chloride and sulfur dioxide emissions from power plants that burn coal refuse, a waste byproduct of the coal mining process. The plants are mostly in Pennsylvania, and since they don't burn standard coal, it's more difficult for them to reduce their emissions to the levels called for in the Obama administration's landmark 2012 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule. "This is a debate about one-size-fits-all coming out of Washington, D.C., and the failure of folks in this town at regulatory agencies to not appreciate [the] nuance of what's going on in the rest of the country," Rep. Keith Rothfus (R-Pa.), the bill's lead sponsor, said on the House floor. Democrats said the bill amounted to a regulatory exemption that would increase air pollution, similar to a bill passed Wednesday that would delay air emissions rules for brick kilns and wood-fired heaters. "It continues the theme of the floor this week, giving unnecessary preferences to a handful of special interests at the expense of clean air and people's health," said Rep. Paul Tonko (N.Y.), the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Environment Subcommittee. Read more here.   HOME DEPOT PAYS $27M OVER HAZARDOUS WASTE: National retailer Home Depot will pay more than $27 million to the state of California to settle an unlawful disposal of hazardous waste case. In the settlement announced Thursday, Home Depot will pay California $27,840,000 to resolve allegations brought against the retailer that it improperly disposed of batteries, aerosol cans, paints and other hazardous materials. As part of the deal, Home Depot agreed to pay more than $16 million in civil penalties and $2 million toward projects that enhance environmental protections. The company additionally agreed to spend $6.8 million to work toward more strict environmental compliance beyond what is mandated by law. California's Department of Justice found evidence of Home Depot's failure to comply with state hazardous waste laws during 45 inspections it made of trash dumpsters belonging to Home Depot stores between 2013 and 2015. Evidence of illegal disposal was found on each of those inspections, according to a statement released by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra on Thursday. Additionally, the inspections found improper disposal of customer information, which left personal details readable. Read more here.   GREENS SUE OVER WALRUS PROTECTIONS: An environmental group sued the Trump administration over its decision not to institute federal protections for the Pacific walrus species. In the lawsuit filed Thursday, the Center for Biological Diversity argues that the Interior Department's Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) ignored the threat to the walrus species from climate change. The FWS said in 2011 that the Pacific walrus warranted protection as a threatened species since the sea ice it needs will continue to melt. But the Trump administration said in October that the species has other ways to survive. "The Trump administration's outrageous reversal is a deathblow for the Pacific walrus," Emily Jeffers, an attorney with the group, said in a statement. "Arctic ice is disappearing at a record rate, and walruses are suffering catastrophic habitat loss. Rather than ignoring the science, the administration needs to give these magnificent creatures the protection they desperately need to survive -- and legally deserve." Read more here.   AROUND THE WEB: The Salt River Project is trying to settle a years-old lawsuit with Tesla Inc. by buying batteries and incentivizing customers to buy batteries themselves, AZCentral reports. Ryan Bundy, who led the occupation of an Oregon wildlife refuge in 2016, is running for governor of Nevada, FOX5 Las Vegas reports. Colorado lawmakers killed a bill meant to increase safety and environmental standards for oil and gas drillers, the Denver Post reports.   FROM THE HILL'S OPINION SECTION: -Diane Hoskins, campaign director at Oceana, says the economic benefits of a clean coastline are worth far more than offshore drilling.   -IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Check out Thursday's stories ... -Elephant trophy decision faces pushback from some Trump allies -Greens sue Trump over walrus protections -Dem bill would overhaul ethanol mandate -Home Depot to pay $27.8M in California hazardous waste settlement -Perry calls global moves to shift from fossil fuels 'immoral' -Faith groups ask Trump to stop off-shore drilling plan -House votes to loosen air pollution rules for some coal plants -Utah lawmaker shelves bill to name highway after Trump -Nearly half of Trump EPA political appointees have industry ties: AP -Head of US forest service resigns over misconduct allegations     Join The Hill on Wednesday, March 21, for Leadership in Action: The Hill's Newsmaker Series featuring Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Reps. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.), and Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.). RSVP Here     Please send tips and comments to Timothy Cama, tcama@thehill.com; and Devin Henry, dhenry@thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @Timothy_Cama, @dhenry, @thehill         Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Energy Newsletters     Forward Energy Newsletters       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2016 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.