Trump's 25% tariffs on steel, aluminium imports take effect
The 25% duties on the two metals would likely push up the cost of producing items ranging from drink cans, home appliances to automobiles, leaving a looming threat of a rise in consumer prices in due course.
Also on Wednesday, the European Union announced "countermeasures" against some US goods in a tit-for-tat move against the steel and aluminium tariffs.
Ahead of the tariff deadline on Tuesday, Trump threatened Canada with doubling the duty to 50% on steel and aluminium exports to the US.
The president later chose to stick to the 25% rate after the Canadian province of Ontario suspended a decision to put a surcharge on electricity sold to the American states of Michigan, Minnesota and New York.
The electricity surcharge was a retaliation to earlier US levies.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he would visit Washington on Thursday with Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc for discussions with Trump officials, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, on revising the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) on trade.
The USMCA was signed during Trump's first term in office and replaced the previous NAFTA agreement.
The new levies imposed Wednesday will stack on top of earlier ones, meaning that some steel and aluminium products from Canada and Mexico will likely see a 50% tariff rate unless they are compliant with the USMCA.
Canada is the biggest foreign supplier of steel and aluminum to the US.
Brazil and Mexico are also important US suppliers of steel, while the United Arab Emirates and South Korea are among key providers of aluminum.
American steel producers hail move
US steel producers welcomed Wednesday's move, hailing the restoration of Trump's prior metal tariffs in 2018 which were later eroded by exemptions.
Canada and Mexico had avoided the import duties on the metals after they agreed to Trump's demand for a revamped North American trade deal in 2020.
Other trading partners of the US had import quotas supplant the tariffs. There were also thousands of product-specific exclusions.
"By closing loopholes in the tariff that have been exploited for years, President Trump will again supercharge a steel industry that stands ready to rebuild America," Philip Bell, the president of Steel Manufacturers Association, said.
"The revised tariff will ensure that steelmakers in America can continue to create new high-paying jobs and make greater investments knowing that they will not be undercut by unfair trade practices," he added.
Wall Street indexes fell for a second straight day on Tuesday as Trump's volatile trade plans have triggered concerns that they could steer the world's biggest economy toward a recession.
The US President dismissed the losses on Wall Street, saying that he does not see the possibility of an economic downturn.
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Observer
2 hours ago
- Observer
Negotiation vs extortion
As anyone who caught even a bit of the day's news knows, President Donald Trump, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and the leaders of Nato, the European Union, Britain and several European countries spent Monday at the White House negotiating a possible land swap and security guarantees that could end the Russian-Ukrainian war. But did they really? Let's think about the word 'negotiating'. All wars end with it, according to the popular saying, but rarely does the aggressor come to the table demanding territory that it doesn't actually control. Usually, the belligerents discuss which military gains should be formalised and which should be reversed. Vladimir Putin, however, has consistently demanded more land than his military has been able to bring under its control in the three and a half years since Russia's full-scale war began. During his summit with Trump in Alaska on Friday, Putin appears to have made a small concession: He is still demanding more land than he has occupied, but not as much as he used to demand. But less is still more. So let's talk about 'land swap'. This phrase seems to refer to Putin's offer to take a piece of Ukraine in exchange for not threatening an even bigger piece of Ukraine. This is not what we normally think of as a swap. It's what we think of as extortion. Let's also talk about the word 'land', or 'territory', which the leaders gathered at the White House on Monday used a lot. Zelensky referred to a map Trump apparently provided to facilitate discussion of 'territory'. Trump promised to get him a copy. But 'territory' is not an outline on a map. It's cities and towns and villages where people still live — even near the front line, even now. Before the full-scale war, the populations of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, the two Ukrainian cities on land Putin is demanding, were 200,000 and 100,000, respectively. We don't know how many people live there now — some people surely fled, some came from occupied territories, some died — but the number is almost certainly tens and possibly hundreds of thousands of people. To propose to cede the land to Russia is to propose either subjecting those residents to Russian occupation — which in other cities has involved summary executions, detentions and torture — or displacing them forcibly. Either would be a crime — a crime in which Trump is asking Zelensky to become an accomplice. This kind of negotiation-through-extortion is not unprecedented. In February 1945, the leaders of the Soviet Union, the United States and Britain met in Yalta — then a city in Soviet Ukraine, now a city in Russian-occupied Crimea — to negotiate the end of World War II. Among other things, Josef Stalin wanted the Kuril Islands, which stretched from Soviet Kamchatka to the coast of Japan. Franklin D Roosevelt and Winston Churchill agreed to let the Soviets have the Kurils. The islands weren't theirs to give — the Kurils belonged to Japan — but they were theirs to take. Six months later, Soviet troops, with significant support from the US military, took control of the islands and deported the Japanese residents. The Soviet troops had gone to Alaska to train for the operation. That military operation began on August 18, 1945, exactly 80 years before Trump met with Zelensky at the White House. Putin, who is a history buff and, more important, has for years been floating the idea of a second Yalta Conference, is certainly mindful of the date and the historical rhyme. More than 80 years after Yalta, no peace treaty exists between Japan and Russia. World War II never officially ended for these two countries, because Japan never ceded the Kuril Islands. All wars may end in negotiations, but not all negotiations end wars. The 20th century offers another example of extorting land. In 1938, Adolf Hitler demanded Sudetenland, a part of Czechoslovakia where ethnic Germans made up a significant percentage of the population. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain negotiated the surrender of the land, without involving Czechoslovakia. The higher purpose of those negotiations was security and peace for the rest of Europe. Less than a year after Czechoslovakia was forced to cede Sudetenland, however, Hitler attacked Poland and World War II began. That was the last war of aggression on the European continent until Putin attacked Ukraine. Hitler claimed that he, too, was fighting for peace and this was why he had no choice but to annex Sudetenland: 'I have made these tremendous efforts to further the peace, but I am not willing to stand any more attacks by Czechoslovakia'. In 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea, Putin effectively reprised a speech Hitler made before annexing Sudetenland, saying that his hand, too, was forced and 'Most importantly, we want peace and harmony to reign in Ukraine'. Which brings me to the subject of security guarantees. The last time Zelensky mentioned those in the White House, he got thrown out. This time, Trump acknowledged that any peace agreement must include security guarantees for Ukraine; during the Monday meeting, he even claimed that Putin agreed that such guarantees were necessary. But what could those be? Putin has said that Ukraine is a historical mistake, that there is no such thing as a Ukrainian nation or a Ukrainian language. How could anyone guarantee Ukraine's safety against a nuclear-armed neighbour who thinks Ukraine shouldn't exist? The only plausible answer would be membership in Nato or its equivalent — an agreement that would obligate the Western alliance, or whatever is left of it, to defend Ukraine to the full extent of its abilities. Putin has consistently cited the very possibility of such an agreement as the 'root cause' of his war against Ukraine. It is a safe bet that Putin will reject any agreement that involves a real promise of security for Ukraine. And that brings me to the number 'six' — something Trump kept invoking on Monday, when he claimed that he had resolved that many wars in his first seven months in office. The conflicts he is taking credit for resolving seem to be the ones between Congo and Rwanda (little evidence that it's over); Egypt and Ethiopia (ditto); India and Pakistan (there is evidence of very little US involvement); Kosovo and Serbia (same); Armenia and Azerbaijan (ditto, but the sides did go to the White House to sign an agreement); Cambodia and Thailand (US-backed talks resulted in a ceasefire, not necessarily an end to the conflict); Israel and Iran (Trump claims to have prevented a nuclear war by dropping bunker-busting bombs). That's actually seven. But also, none. — The New York Times Masha GessennThe author is a Russian and American journalist, author and translator
Muscat Daily
2 hours ago
- Muscat Daily
US: White House launches official TikTok account
Washington, D.C., US – The White House on Tuesday launched an official TikTok account, despite the China-based video-sharing app facing a ban in the US on the grounds of national security concerns. 'America we are BACK! What's up TikTok?' read a caption on the account's first post on the popular video sharing app, a 27-second clip. The account went live with a video showing footage of Trump declaring: 'I am your voice.' A couple of hours after the first video was posted there were just under 19 thousand followers, although US President Donald Trump's own TikTok account has 110.1mn followers. TikTok facing US ban Trump has continued to allow the platform to operate in the US while extending the deadline for TikTok to find a non-Chinese buyer. The current extension is due to expire in mid-September. Trump had initially tried to ban the social media network during his first term as president, but has since reversed his position and has credited it with helping him gain support among young voters in his return to the White House. 'The Trump administration is committed to communicating the historic successes President Trump has delivered to the American people with as many audiences and platforms as possible,' White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. 'President Trump's message dominated TikTok during his presidential campaign, and we're excited to build upon those successes and communicate in a way no other administration has before,' she added. There is concern among US lawmakers that user data could fall into the hands of China's government. Trump has been working on a deal for US investors to buy the app from TikTok's Chinese parent, ByteDance. DW
Times of Oman
10 hours ago
- Times of Oman
"US boots will not be on the ground in Ukraine": White House
Washington, DC: US White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday (local time) said that US President Donald Trump ruled out sending US troops to Ukraine as part of security guarantees. Leavitt, during her press briefing, said that other options, however, remain open, including the skies. "The president has definitively stated US boots will not be on the ground in Ukraine, but we can certainly help in the coordination and perhaps provide other means of security guarantees to our European allies. The president understands that security guarantees are crucial to ensuring a lasting peace. He has directed his national security team to coordinate with our friends in Europe and also to continue to cooperate and discuss these matters with Ukraine and Russia as well," she said. Upon being asked if the US would provide 'air' as a security option, Leavitt said that it was a possibility. "It is an option and a possibility. I certainly won't rule out anything as far as military options that the president has at his disposal. I'll let him do that. I can tell you he's ruled out boots on the ground," she said. Upon being pressed for further details on the security guarantees for Ukraine, she said, "President Trump has directed his team to come up with a framework for these security guarantees that can be acceptable to help ensure a lasting peace and end this war," she said. On being asked how US President Donald Trump guarantees the non-spending of the taxpayer money to Ukraine, Leavitt said that Trump proposed that NATO purchase the weapons for Ukraine. "Well, the president is very sensitive to the needs of the American taxpayer. And immediately upon entering office back in January, he made it very clear that we're not going to continue writing blank checks to fund a war very far away, which is why he came up with the very creative solution to have NATO purchase American weaponry, because it is the best in the world. And then to backfill the needs of the Ukrainian army and the Ukrainian people and their military. So that's the solution the president has come up with. We'll continue to see that forward. As for any additional sales, I'll have to defer you to the Department of Defense," she said. Leavitt said that Trump has learnt a lot while solving the war crises, including how to move the ball forward with diplomacy. "Well, the president has learned a lot, which is part of the reason he opened up this dialogue. the previous administration who oversaw the beginning of this war refused to talk and President Trump has always said in order to learn to move the ball forward with diplomacy and towards peace you have to have open dialogue and so that's why the president has had several conversations by phone and of course an in-person meeting last Friday with President Putin," he said. Leavitt added that due to Trump, Russia and Ukraine have agreed to talk to each other after several years. "He has also talked to President Zelenskyy dozens of times, had him here at the White House yesterday, and he's understanding what both sides want. What both sides are going to have to give up, and he has always said that in order to get a good deal, both sides are going to have to walk away a little bit unhappy. So he continues to learn a lot throughout these conversations which is why we've seen progress from both sides and I would also just add when it come comes to learning and moving the ball forward look at how both Russia and Ukraine have actually talked directly for the first time in many years thanks to the efforts of this president and this administration," she said. Leavitt said that the US is gaining respect on the world stage, as Trump brokered peace on several occasions. She again falsely credited Trump with brokering a peace deal between India and Pakistan. "Russia and all countries around this world actually respect the United States again, and the president is using the might of American strength to demand that respect from our allies, our friends, our adversaries all around the world. And we've seen that not just lead to progress with Russia and Ukraine, but also we've seen it in the closing of seven global conflicts around the world as well. We've seen it with the release of hostages in Gaza. You've seen it with the end of the conflict between India and Pakistan, which could have resulted in a nuclear war if we had not had a president who believed in the strength and the leverage that comes with the job of being the president of the United States of America," she said. Leavitt said that the US is willing to help Russia and Ukraine sit down and negotiate. "Well, look, the president has spoken to both leaders about this and both leaders have expressed a willingness to sit down with each other. Our national security team will help both countries do that. Ultimately, the president has always said that there are areas of disagreement in this war that will have to be discussed and decided upon by these two countries. And so, he wants these two countries to engage in direct diplomacy. He's said that from the very beginning, which is why he's agreeable to the idea of having President Zelenskyy and President Putin get together and I understand accommodations for that meeting are underway," she said.
