Trump announces 50% increase in steel and aluminium tariffs
Donald Trump announced on Friday at a rally in front of Pennsylvania steel workers that he will double tariffs on steel imports to 50 per cent, a move that could exacerbate the ongoing trade war with the EU, China and the rest of the world.
The US president said that doubling taxes on imported steel would "further strengthen the steel industry in the United States".
In a post, published later on his Truth Social platform, the US president added that duties on aluminium will also increase from 25 per cent to 50 per cent. Trump said both increases will come into effect on Wednesday, 4 June.
The announcement comes after confusing days during which the judiciary gave opposing rulings on Trump's customs policy, first blocking it with a decision by the US Court of International Trade and finally giving it the green light again, pending a new decision by a federal appeals court.
Trump spoke on Friday at U.S. Steel's Mon Valley Works-Irvin plant on the outskirts of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he also discussed details of a deal being finalised for investment by Japan's Nippon Steel in the iconic American steel mill.
Trump clarified to reporters after his return to Washington, however, that he has yet to approve the deal. "I have to approve the final agreement with Nippon and we haven't seen the final agreement yet, but they've made a very big commitment and it's a very big investment," he said.
Although Trump initially promised to block the Japanese steelmaker's bid to buy U.S. Steel, he changed course and last week announced an agreement for a partial sale to Nippon Steel.
The Japanese company never claimed to have changed its previous offer to buy and fully control U.S. Steel, for $14.9 billion, although it did increase the amount it promised to invest in American plants and guaranteed it would not lay anyone off.
"We are here today to celebrate anextraordinary deal that will ensure that this historic American company will remain an American company," Trump said during a rally at one of U.S. Steel's warehouses, "you will remain an American company, you know that, right?"
The United Steelworkers union said it was very concerned "about the impact this merger of U.S. Steel with a foreign competitor will have on national security, our members, and the communities where we live and work."
According to the government's producer price index, steel prices have risen 16 per cent since Trump became president in mid-January.
As of March 2025, steel cost $984 per metric tonne in the US, far more than the price in Europe ($690) or China ($392), according to the US Department of Commerce.
Among the partners most affected by the possible increase in duties on these materials are the EU, which had just obtained a July postponement of the increase in general duties on exports to the US, and Canada.
"Dismantling efficient, competitive, and reliable cross-border supply chains like we have in steel and aluminium comes at a high cost to both countries," Candace Laing, president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce commented.
Last year, the US produced about three times as much steel as it imported, with Canada, Brazil, Mexico and South Korea as the main sources of imports. Analysts have credited the duties dating back to Trump's first term with helping to strengthen the domestic steel industry.
The fate of U.S. Steel, once the world's largest steel company, could weigh in the midterm elections for the Republican Party in the always decisive state of Pennsylvania and others that depend on manufacturing.
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