US allies line up to win more exemptions from Trump's steel tariffs

The provisional list correlated strongly with Republican congressional districts and included Harley-Davidson motorcycles, bourbon, rice, kidney beans, sweet corn, tobacco and peanut butter

South Korea made an impassioned appeal to the American secretary of defence and national security adviser, reminding them of its role trying to defang North Korea. Europe pointed out that it was, in fact, a longstanding US military ally.
 
But it was Australia that deployed a secret weapon a day after President Trump signed an order imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, as nations jockeyed for exemptions from the levies.
 
“We’re calling in all contacts at every level,” Julie Bishop, Australia’s foreign minister, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Top among those enlisted: the golfing legend Greg Norman,