Trump may exclude a country from trade tariffs, but with these five riders

The effort to recruit allies to protest Beijing's trade policies comes as the Trump administration weighs broad tariffs against products made in China

The Trump administration is pressing countries to ally with the US in pushing back against Chinese trade policies in exchange for relief from American tariffs on steel and aluminium, according to a European official.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has been leading negotiations under which countries may be excluded from the tariffs of 25 per cent on imported steel and 10 per cent on aluminium. American trading partners and US companies are pressing for exemptions and exclusions from the tariffs, which take effect on Friday.

In talks with the US, Lighthizer has laid out five conditions that countries must address before being