Trump doubles down on tariffs: Steel and aluminium hit 50%
President Donald Trump announced on Friday that tariffs on steel and aluminium imported to the USA will increase on 4th June from 25 to 50 per cent. The additional charges, as he emphasised, will strengthen the American steel industry.
"We’re going to bring it from 25% to 50%, the tariffs on steel into the United States of America, which will even further secure the steel industry in the United States," Trump declared during a meeting with workers of the metallurgical giant US Steel in Pennsylvania. The Republican emphasised that "tariffs" is his absolutely favourite word.
Later, he explained on his platform Truth Social that the new tariff rates will take effect on 4th June and will also apply to aluminium.
The USA was the largest steel importer
As reported by the dpa agency, in 2024, the USA was the largest steel importer in the world. According to the US government, the most important countries of origin for imported steel products are Canada, Brazil, and Mexico. The United States is the most important market for the European steel industry, mainly the German one.
The USA primarily imports aluminium from Canada, the United Arab Emirates, China, and South Korea.
It is unknown whether there will be exceptions to the doubled tariffs – for example, for Canada and Mexico, with whom the USA forms the North American Free Trade Zone. However, there were no exceptions to the 25 per cent tariffs announced by President Trump in February.
"Nobody’s going to get around that" – the President of the USA declared in a speech at the US Steel plant in Pennsylvania.
