US: White House Press Conference Underway Shortly

White House Press Secretary Kaoline Leavitt is shortly due to hold a press conference at the White House. LIVESTREAM

• The presser comes ahead of an executive order signing ceremony at 14:30 ET 19:30 GMT where US President Donald Trump may announce new 'reciprocal' tariff measures.
• Allies of the United States are concerned that measures could include actions to target non-tariff trade barriers, “such as value-added taxes, government subsidies for foreign companies in their home countries, or regulations that prevent U.S. companies from doing business in foreign countries,” according to WSJ sources.
• Trump’s key trade advisor Peter Navarro told CNN this week: “What’s going to happen is we’re going to look at all of our trading partners, starting with the ones with which we run the biggest deficits, find out if they’re cheating the American people, and if they are, we’re going to take measures to correct that wrong.”
• Nations likely to be struck hardest by new tariff measures have already begun jockeying for preferential treatment. Promising concessions, highlighting areas of mutual benefit, or pledging retaliatory measures. See today's edition of the MNI US Daily Brief for additional analysis.