Trump signs order hiking steel, aluminum tariffs to 50%, exempts UK

Business Standard

3 days ago

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a directive doubling tariffs on steel and aluminium imports to 50 per cent from 25 per cent, with the increase taking effect from today. The move follows through on his earlier commitment to raise import duties in a bid to support domestic manufacturing. This is the second tariff hike on these metals since March, affecting critical inputs across industries from automobiles to canned goods.
The order stated that the earlier tariff level had "not yet allowed" domestic industries to achieve and sustain the production capacity and utilisation rates needed for their long-term viability, and to meet anticipated national defence requirements, reported Bloomberg.
The order, posted by the White House on X, said that raising the existing tariffs would offer stronger support to domestic industries and help reduce or eliminate the national security threat posed by imports of steel, aluminium and related products.
UK imports exempted from the tariff rise
Tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from the UK will, however, remain at the existing 25 per cent level, allowing both countries time to finalise new levies or quotas by a July 9 deadline, according to the directive. While a framework to reduce trade barriers on steel was agreed upon last month, the two sides have yet to settle on the extent of relief for British steel, and the deal has not yet come into force.
The exemption for the UK came just hours after the British government confirmed that both nations had agreed on the need to swiftly implement a tariff relief agreement.
Trade tensions and legal challenges
Trump's move has heightened trade tensions as the US remains engaged in negotiations with multiple trading partners over his proposed 'reciprocal' tariffs ahead of a 9 July deadline. His authority to impose such tariffs unilaterally faces increased legal scrutiny, especially after a federal court recently struck down several other duties he had implemented under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. However, the steel and aluminium duties remain unaffected, as they were imposed under a separate legal authority, according to a Bloomberg report. The president has signalled he remains committed to raising duties and pressuring countries to make concessions at the negotiating table.
Trump had announced the tariff hike last Friday during a speech at a United States Steel Corp plant in Pennsylvania, where he backed the company's sale to Japan's Nippon Steel Corp but assured workers it would remain under some level of American oversight.
"That means nobody's going to be able to steal your industry," he told steelworkers. "At 25 per cent, they can sort of get over that fence; at 50 per cent, they can no longer get over the fence." Later, he confirmed in a social media post that aluminium tariffs would also rise to the same level.
Critics argue that raising steel and aluminium tariffs to 50 per cent could severely impact foreign producers, provoke retaliatory actions from trade partners, and ultimately burden American manufacturers and consumers with higher costs amid renewed trade tensions.