The Financial Post reports in its Saturday edition that on Donald Trump is planning to scale back some tariffs on steel and aluminum goods as he battles an affordability crisis that has sapped his approval ratings ahead of November's midterm elections. A Financial Times dispatch to the Post says that the U.S. President hit steel and aluminum imports with tariffs of up to 50 per cent last summer, and has expanded the taxes to a range of goods made from those metals including washing machines and ovens. But his administration is now reviewing the list of products affected by the levies and plans to exempt some items, halt the expansion of the lists and instead launch more targeted national security probes into specific goods. Trade officials in the Commerce Department and U.S. Trade Representative's office believed the tariffs were hurting consumers by raising prices for goods such as pie tins and food and drink cans. Trump's tariff blitz has pushed U.S. duties to their highest level since before the Second World War. But the President has repeatedly walked back some of his stiffest levies amid voter anger at the U.S.'s affordability crisis. More than 70 per cent of U.S. adults rate economic conditions as fair or poor.