PETER NAVARRO: Trump's 50% steel tariff is a necessary shield for American industry

Yahoo

09-06-2025

President Donald Trump has now raised steel tariffs to 50% from 25%. This increase is absolutely essential to protecting the U.S. steel industry and America's national security.
This decision comes not a moment too soon. As global steel overcapacity reaches dangerous new heights and import surges hammer American producers, the original 25% tariffs under Section 232 are no longer sufficient to shield our industrial base from foreign market manipulation, particularly by Chinese state-linked exporters. A stronger line must be drawn – and today's move draws it.
When President Trump first imposed Section 232 tariffs in 2018, they immediately spurred a resurgence in domestic steel investment. American steelmakers poured more than $20 billion into expanding and modernizing production across critical product lines – from hot-rolled sheet and corrosion-resistant plate to rebar and wire rod.
These investments weren't speculative; they were foundational to national resilience, designed to restore domestic self-sufficiency and economic security.
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By 2024, those investments had paid off. U.S. steel capacity now exceeds domestic consumption by more than 19 million tons annually. In product after product, America can meet its own needs without relying on a single ton of imports. For instance, U.S. hot-rolled sheet capacity exceeds demand by 18.1 million tons. Cold-rolled sheet? Overcapacity of 13.2 million tons. Rebar? An excess of 1.5 million tons.
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In short, American steel is fully capable of standing on its own – if foreign trade abuses don't undermine it. Yet that is exactly what's happening.
Global steel overcapacity – fueled by China's relentless export machine – has surged to a staggering 600 million metric tons in 2024 and is projected to exceed 720 million metric tons by 2027. China alone exported nearly 111 million metric tons last year, destabilizing global prices.
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This massive Chinese dumping – what else is new from the world's largest dumper of manufactured goods – has forced steelmakers in countries like Korea, Japan, Vietnam and the UAE to aggressively chase U.S. market share. No strangers to dumping themselves, these foreign producers have brazenly told American customers they will simply "price through" the existing 25% duties – absorbing the costs to undercut U.S. mills.
The result has been a flood of imports across multiple product lines. In the first part of 2025 alone, standard pipe imports from Vietnam surged 160% compared to the same period in 2024. Oil country tubular goods imports jumped 223% from Vietnam, 70% from Korea and 44% from Taiwan. Rebar imports from Vietnam doubled. Wire rod from Korea soared 67%.
These are not normal market fluctuations; they are coordinated assaults on America's steel backbone.
Compounding the problem, some foreign suppliers are now using fraud – falsifying invoice values to reduce tariff exposure. Doubling the tariff to 50% makes such schemes far less profitable and far easier to detect and deter.
The fallout is already visible. U.S. steel industry capacity utilization has dropped to unsustainable levels – falling from 81.2% in 2021 to 75.2% in 2025. Financially, the picture is even more dire. The four largest U.S. steelmakers saw their average net income ratio plummet from 14.9% in 2022 to a loss of 1.9% in the fourth quarter of 2024 (see below). The Census Bureau now ranks the steel sector among the worst-performing industries in the country.
Without swift action, this trajectory threatens to undo the progress made under President Trump's original Section 232 proclamation. But with President Trump's decisive move to raise tariffs to 50%, America is sending a clear message: We will not surrender our industrial core to foreign manipulation and overcapacity. We will not allow imported steel, dumped at below-market prices or snuck in through fraud, to destroy the viability of U.S. mills.
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The stakes are not just economic – they are strategic. Economic security is national security and steel is the bedrock of national defense, critical infrastructure and advanced manufacturing. A strong steel industry means a strong America.
President Trump's action is bold, timely and absolutely necessary. He is putting American workers, American producers and American security first.
Click Here To Read More From Peter NavarroOriginal article source: PETER NAVARRO: Trump's 50% steel tariff is a necessary shield for American industry