4 days ago
Trump says steel tariffs will double to 50% while touting Japanese investment in U.S. Steel
President Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a rally at the US Steel-Irvin Works on May 30, 2025, in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. President Trump visits the steel factory after greenlighting the long-proposed merger between U.S. Steel and Tokyo-based Nippon Steel.(Photo by)
President Donald Trump said he plans to double tariffs on steel imports Friday as he promoted a proposed $14 billion Japanese investment in Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel that he said would save the company and thousands of jobs.
Speaking at U.S. Steel's Irvin Plant in West Mifflin, a week after he announced the partnership with Japan's Nippon Steel, Trump criticized the Biden administration for relaxing steel industry protections in 2021.
'The exemptions that they gave allowed foreign competitors that come in and steal our industry, steal our jobs and bring them back home and bring them home by the boatload,' Trump said standing in front of steel mill workers in orange, reflective coveralls and hard hats. Some held signs reading 'Make U.S.S. Great Again.'
Trump said the 25% tariff on foreign steel he reinstated at the start of his second term would increase to 50% to 'even further secure the steel industry in the United States.'
'Nobody is going to get around that,' he said. Nippon began courting U.S. Steel in December 2023 with a $14.9 billion offer, which was approved by shareholders. Political opposition to the sale centered on the national security implications of selling one of America's largest steel companies to a foreign corporation. The deal was stranded for most of last year as President Joe Biden awaited a recommendation from the Council on Foreign Investment in the United States.
Like Biden, Trump also initially opposed the sale, but announced May 23 in a post on Truth Social that the deal was back on. He described it as a 'planned partnership' between the Japanese and American companies that would bring $14 billion of investment in a matter of months.
The domestic steel and aluminum industries have long been a focus of Trump's trade policy. He reintroduced the 25% tariff on imports of the metals even before he announced his broad duties on products made overseas that he said would bring manufacturing back to American shores.
'When I came into office eight years ago, I proclaimed a simple but truly important principle, if you don't have steel, you don't have a country,' Trump said. 'A strong steel industry is not just a matter of dignity or prosperity and pride, it's above all, a matter of national security.'
In his hour-long speech, Trump also touched on his administration's immigration policy and recognized Pennsylvania elected officials in the audience, including Rep. Dan Meuser (R-9th District), a likely GOP candidate for governor next year.
'If you run, you've got my support,' Trump said.
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Trump's remarks, however, focused on the long-delayed merger but provided few additional details for anxious investors. Nippon and U.S. Steel have not officially disclosed terms of the rumored transaction. Earlier this week, U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) said the merger would be subject to a 'national security agreement' under which the U.S. government would appoint some of the company's directors.
Trump, instead, highlighted how he said it would benefit the Monongahela River Valley, where three of U.S. Steel's plants employ nearly 4,000 workers.
Nippon would invest $2.2 billion to increase production in the Mon Valley Works and $200 million in the company's Advanced Technology Research and Development Center in nearby Munhall.
The post-merger U.S. Steel would also maintain all of its currently operating blast furnaces at full capacity for a minimum of 10 years. 'We have that as a commitment,' Trump said.
And Trump promised there would be no outsourcing work or layoffs and that every U.S. Steel worker would receive a $5,000 bonus.
'You've gone through a lot, it's closing. It's not closing,' Trump said to the crowd.
He brought several union leaders to the microphone, including Jason Zugai, vice president of USW Local 2227, and a third-generation steelworker. Zugal thanked elected officials including McCormick, Mueser and state Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R-Dauphin) for their concern as the sale took shape.
'These investments are life changing for all the men and women here today and for our communities,' Zugai said.
USW International President David McCall said in a statement Friday evening that the union remains concerned about the effects the merger will have on national security, its members and the communities where they work.
'We have not participated in the discussions involving U.S. Steel, Nippon Steel, and the Trump administration, nor were we consulted, so we cannot speculate about the meaning of the 'planned partnership' between USS and Nippon or the 'golden share' that some politicians have claimed will be issued to the federal government,' McCall said.
McCall said the union's only concerns are the long-term viability and sustainability of the current U.S. Steel facilities to safeguard the employment and retirement security of its members. So far, he said, the union has seen only public relations and not commitments in writing.
'Issuing press releases and making political speeches is easy. Binding commitments are hard,' McCall said.
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