Trump steel, aluminum tariffs taking effect
President Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs doubled on Wednesday to 50 percent, in a dramatic move aimed at protecting U.S. industries that economists say could increase prices for American consumers.
The tariff hike on foreign metals went into effect just after midnight on Wednesday, and they apply to nearly all imports of steel and aluminum. The United Kingdom is exempt from the tariff hike — and will continue to face a 25 percent tariff rate — because of the trade deal announced by Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer last month.
Trump on Friday announced plans to hike tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum imports from the 25 percent rate that has been in effect since March 12 — when Trump's steel exemptions on tariffs expired and his import tax hike on aluminum imports took effect.
He told steelworkers in a speech at U.S. Steel's Mon Valley Works–Irvin Plant in Pittsburgh late last month that the increase 'will even further secure the steel industry in the U.S.' The president reiterated that sentiment about aluminum imports later that day.
Trump formalized the tariff hike in a proclamation on Tuesday, saying the increase would ensure 'such imports will not threaten to impair the national security.'
'In my judgment, the increased 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,' he wrote in the proclamation.
The anticipated bump in metal duties drew criticism from U.S. foreign trading allies.
Canada — the largest exporter of steel and aluminum to the U.S. — called the move 'unlawful and unjustified.'
'Canada's new government is engaged in intensive and live negotiations to have these and other tariffs removed as part of a new economic and security partnership with the United States,' Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's office said in a statement.
Mexico reportedly plans to ask the Trump administration for an exemption from the steel tariff hike.
'It's not fair and it's unsustainable,' the country's economy minister, Marcelo Ebrard, said on Tuesday, Bloomberg News reported. 'We will present our arguments on Friday to exclude Mexico from this measure.'
The move received praise from at least one industry group: the American Iron and Steel Institute.
Kevin Dempsey, the group's president, said the tariff hike 'will help prevent new surges in imports that would injure American steel producers and their workers.'
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And he punished the Vatican's Secretariat of State that had allowed the London deal to go through by stripping it of its ability to manage its own assets. But Francis left unfinished business and his overall record, at least according to some in the donor community, is less than positive. Critics cite Pell's frustrated reform efforts and the firing of the Holy See's first-ever auditor general, who says he was ousted because he had uncovered too much financial wrongdoing. Despite imposing years of belt-tightening and hiring freezes, Francis left the Vatican in somewhat dire financial straits: The main stopgap bucket of money that funds budgetary shortfalls, known as the Peter's Pence, is nearly exhausted, officials say. The 1 billion euro ($1.14 billion) pension fund shortfall that Pell warned about a decade ago remains unaddressed, though Francis had planned reforms. 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Fitzgerald, who spent his career in real estate private equity, said American donors — especially the younger generation — expect transparency and accountability from recipients of their money, and know they can find non-Vatican Catholic charities that meet those expectations. 'We would expect transparency before we would start to solve the problem,' he said. That said, Fitzgerald said he hadn't seen any significant let-up in donor willingness to fund the Papal Foundation's project-specific donations during the Francis pontificate. Indeed, U.S. donations to the Vatican overall have remained more or less consistent even as other countries' offerings declined, with U.S. bishops and individual Catholics contributing more than any other country in the two main channels to donate to papal causes. A head for numbers and background fundraising Francis moved Prevost to take over the diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, in 2014. 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In 2023, when massive rains flooded the region, he personally brought food to the flood-struck zone. Within hours of his May 8 election, videos went viral on social media of Prevost, wearing rubber boots and standing in a flooded street, pitching a solidarity campaign, 'Peru Give a Hand,' to raise money for flood victims. The Rev. Jorge Millán, who lived with Prevost and eight other priests for nearly a decade in Chiclayo, said he had a 'mathematical' mentality and knew how to get the job done. Prevost would always be on the lookout for used cars to buy for use around the diocese, Millán said, noting that the bishop often had to drive long distances to reach all of his flock or get to Lima, the capital. Prevost liked to fix them up himself, and if he didn't know what to do, 'he'd look up solutions on YouTube and very often he'd find them,' Millán told The Associated Press. Before going to Peru, Prevost served two terms as prior general, or superior, of the global Augustinian order. 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'He has a very good interest and also a very good feeling for numbers,' Klein said. 'I have no worry about the finances of the Vatican in these years because he is very, very clever.' ___ Franklin Briceño contributed from Lima, Peru. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
