Donald Trump to double tariffs on foreign steel to 50%
Hiking tariffs could increase costs for American consumers and manufacturers of a variety of products, such as cars and homes, that use steel.
President Donald Trump said he's doubling tariffs on foreign steel to 50%, making the announcement during a May 30 visit to a U.S. Steel facility in Pennsylvania.
Trump previously reversed his threat to impose 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada.
Trump bulked up tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum after taking office for a second time, restoring the 25% levy that had been weakened by numerous country exclusions and quotas and thousands of product-specific exclusions.
Trump said the higher tariffs will even further secure the steel industry in the United States.
"Nobody's going to get around that," he said.
While hiking tariffs could help U.S. steel producers, it is expected to increase costs for consumers and American makers of a variety of products − from cars to homes − that use steel.
Trump pitched the tariff increase as a way to eliminate competition from foreign steel producers, saying at 25% foreign companies "can sort of get over that fence." The higher tariff goes into effect June 4, Trump said.
"At 50% they can no longer get over the fence," he said.
Canadian Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Candace Laing said hiking the steel tariffs is "antithetical to North American economic security."
“Unwinding the efficient, competitive and reliable cross border supply chains like we have in steel and aluminum comes at a great cost to both countries,” Laing said in a statement reacting to Trump’s announcement.
The steel tariffs were among the earliest put into effect by Trump when he returned to office in January. The tariffs of 25% on most steel and aluminum imported to the U.S. went into effect in March, and he had briefly threatened a 50% levy on Canadian steel but ultimately backed off.
Under the so-called Section 232 national security authority, the import taxes include both raw metals and derivative products as diverse as stainless-steel sinks, gas ranges, air conditioner evaporator coils, horseshoes, aluminum fry pans and steel door hinges.
The total 2024 import value for the 289 product categories came to $147.3 billion with nearly two-thirds aluminum and one-third steel, according to Census Bureau data retrieved through the U.S. International Trade Commission's Data Web system.
By contrast, Trump's first two rounds of punitive tariffs on Chinese industrial goods in 2018 during his first term totaled $50 billion in annual import value.
Trump was in Pennsylvania to tout what he described as a "partnership" between U.S. Steel and Japan's Nippon Steel, which he said would strengthen the steel industry in the U.S.. Nippon plans to invest billions in U.S. steel production as part of the deal, Trump said.
"There'll be no layoffs and no outsourcing whatsoever, and every U.S. steel worker will soon receive a well deserved $5,000 bonus," Trump said.
Trump later told reporters that the deal isn't final.
"I have to approve the final deal with Nippon and we haven't seen that final deal yet," Trump said after returning from the rally.
Trump previously opposed a bid by Nippon to purchase U.S. Steel, but said that over time the “deal got better and better.”
Contributing: Reuters