The US has doubled tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum imports to 50%, pressing ahead in the face of criticism from key trading partners with a measure that Donald Trump says is intended to revive the American industry.
After imposing and rapidly lifting tariffs on much of the world, only to reduce them, Trump last week refocused on the global steel and aluminum markets – and the dominance of China.
Trump signed an executive order formalizing the move on Tuesday. Higher tariffs “will more effectively counter foreign countries that continue to offload low-priced, excess steel and aluminum in the United States market and thereby undercut the competitiveness of the United States steel and aluminum industries”, the order said.
The increase applies to all trading partners except Britain, the only country so far that has struck a preliminary trade agreement with the US during a 90-day pause on a wider array of Trump tariffs. The rate for steel and aluminum imports from the UK – which does not rank among the top exporters of either metal to the US – will remain at 25% until at least 9 July.
About a quarter of all steel used in the US is imported and data shows the increased levies will hit the closest US trading partners – Canada and Mexico – especially hard. They rank first and third respectively in steel shipment volumes to the US.
The office of Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister, said Canada was “engaged in intensive and live negotiations to have these and other tariffs removed”.
Mexico’s economy minister, Marcelo Ebrard, reiterated that the tariffs were unsustainable and unfair, especially given that Mexico imports more steel from the US than it exports there.
“It makes no sense for the United States to levy a tariff on a product in which you have a surplus,” he said, adding that Mexico would on Friday seek an exemption from the increase.
Days after announcing his approval of the controversial takeover of US Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel, Trump unveiled plans for the rapid increase in tariffs on overseas steel and aluminum.
“Our steel and aluminum industries are coming back like never before,” Trump posted. “This will be yet another BIG jolt of great news for our wonderful steel and aluminum workers.”
after newsletter promotion
Senior EU officials are hoping the bloc can still win an exemption from the higher steel tariffs, with a crunch meeting between the EU trade commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, and US trade representative Jamieson Greer scheduled for Thursday in Paris.
While a 50% tariff is seen as unsurvivable for exporters, sources in Brussels indicate it is unlikely that the EU will retaliate immediately, given the delicacy of talks around other tariffs imposed by Trump in recent months.
The EU has the power to bring forward a €21bn package of tariffs on US exports, already agreed in April on the initial tariffs imposed by Trump on steel and aluminum.
With Trump, the EU has a common cause, with Chinese oversupply being seen as one of the biggest drivers of the crisis engulfing the European steel industry, where declining demand has forced huge jobs losses among some of the biggest producers, including Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Steel.
