Latest news with #steelindustry
CTV News
6 hours ago
- Business
- CTV News
‘Absolutely devastating': Cobden on Trump doubling steel tariffs
Watch President and CEO of Canadian Steel Producers Association Catherine Cobden on the 'challenging time' in the steel sector as Trump will double steel tariffs.
New York Times
8 hours ago
- Business
- New York Times
Trump Administration Live Updates: President Doubles Foreign Steel Tariffs
President Trump said on Friday that he would double the tariffs he had levied on foreign steel and aluminum to 50 percent, a move that he claimed would further protect the industry. The announcement came as Mr. Trump traveled to a U.S. Steel factory outside Pittsburgh to hail a 'planned partnership' that he helped broker between U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel, a corporate merger that he opposed last year as a presidential candidate. Although the details of the U.S. Steel deal are still murky — and Mr. Trump later admitted he had not yet seen or signed off on it — the president used the moment to cast himself as a champion of the embattled industry. Speaking to a crowd of steel workers, Mr. Trump claimed that foreign countries had been able to circumvent the 25 percent tariff he put in place this year. The higher tariffs would 'even further secure the steel industry in the United States,' Mr. Trump said. It is not clear how much doubling the tariff rate would actually bolster the domestic steel sector, but the move gave Mr. Trump the opportunity to wield tariffs at a time when his other import taxes have proved vulnerable to legal challenges. In a post on Truth Social, Mr. Trump said that the tariffs would take effect on June 4 and that they would provide a 'big jolt' to American steel and aluminum workers. Mr. Trump has in recent weeks announced large tariffs only to quickly reverse himself and pause them. Analysts suggested on Friday that Mr. Trump could be seeking new ways to gain leverage over trading partners as the pace of negotiations has proved to be painfully slow. This week, many of Mr. Trump's tariffs have come under legal threat. A court ruled on Wednesday that Mr. Trump's taxes on imports from China, Canada, Mexico and other nations were unlawful, although an appeals court paused that decision. The levies on steel, aluminum and cars were issued through a separate law pertaining to national security, so they are not affected by those court cases. Mr. Trump also bristled at accusations this week that he had 'chickened out' on tariffs by repeatedly backing down on threats made against major trading partners. 'Trump is clearly determined to use any available avenue to deploy tariffs as a tool to, as he sees it, protect and even revive American smokestack manufacturing,' said Eswar Prasad, a trade policy professor at Cornell University. Nippon Steel, a Japanese company, had been interested in acquiring U.S. Steel in part to gain greater access to the American market. On Friday, the president reassured employees of U.S. Steel that they would 'continue to be controlled by the U.S.A.' He did not provide any details about whether Nippon is acquiring the American steel maker, as it originally proposed, or if a deal may take some other form. His appearance in Pennsylvania was the latest twist in a two-year saga about the fate of U.S. Steel, an iconic American company. During the campaign last year, Mr. Trump, President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Vice President Kamala Harris all expressed opposition to U.S. Steel's being sold to a foreign company. The fact that the company is based in the swing state of Pennsylvania and that the deal faced resistance from the powerful United Steelworkers union further complicated the transaction. It remains unclear if the deal is essentially being repackaged or fundamentally restructured. Mr. Trump did not offer much clarity on Friday night. He told reporters on his way back to the White House that the deal would retain 'control' of the company in the United States but declined to elaborate when asked. He also said the deal would provide $17 billion in investment, a number that both clashed with his own previous figures and is higher than Nippon's original bid for full control of the company. 'I have to approve the final deal with Nippon, and we haven't seen that final deal yet,' he said. 'But they've made a very big commitment. And it's a very big investment.' Neither company has publicly elaborated on Mr. Trump's remarks, nor confirmed the ownership structure attached to the investment he described. That may be because the companies do not know the details — or are hesitant to underline the fact that the parties are going through with an acquisition that Mr. Trump previously said he would block, said Stephen Heifetz, a partner at the law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. 'The problem, of course, is that the deal that the parties seemingly are willing to agree to is not really an investment — it's an acquisition,' said Mr. Heifetz, who previously served as an official on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and worked at the Justice Department. 'So that leaves folks in a muddle, because the president is saying — and seeming like it's very important to him — it's an investment.' Neither company has said publicly that the agreement has cleared the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, an interagency panel that vets transactions like this one. However, Mr. Trump's public support of the agreement essentially paves the way for its ultimate approval. Last week, Mr. Trump announced what he called a 'partnership' between the two steel makers, prompting Nippon Steel officials to believe Mr. Trump had endorsed their bid. But on Thursday, Peter Navarro, a senior White House trade adviser, rejected the idea that Nippon would have ownership of the American steel maker. 'U.S. Steel owns the company,' Mr. Navarro told reporters at the White House on Thursday. 'Nippon Steel's going to have some involvement, but no control.' During the presidential campaign, Mr. Trump pledged to block the Japanese company's $14 billion bid for the Pittsburgh-based industrial giant. The potential purchase incited bipartisan backlash. Union leaders expressed concern about job security and the future of American steel. But when Mr. Trump came into office, his aides discussed potential options for a deal with Nippon Steel. In one option, the United States would acquire so-called golden shares in the transaction, which would grant even a minority shareholder veto power over significant corporate decisions. That could give the U.S. government some say over major decisions like prospective plant closures or large layoffs, even if the acquisition went through. 'This will be a planned partnership between United States Steel and Nippon Steel, which will create at least 70,000 jobs, and add $14 Billion Dollars to the U.S. Economy,' Mr. Trump wrote on social media last week. Senator David McCormick, Republican of Pennsylvania, has indicated that Nippon Steel would sign off on granting the United States the golden shares. The approval of the deal had bipartisan support in Pennsylvania. Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said at an event this week that he had worked with both Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump to find a way forward for the agreement. He lamented that steel jobs had been leaving the state in recent decades and praised the investment that Nippon Steel was preparing to make. 'I've been working really hard to make sure that we can protect our great legacy but grow for the future of steel making in Pennsylvania,' Mr. Shapiro said. Despite Mr. Trump's backing, officials continued to express concerns on Friday. 'Whatever the deal structure, our primary concern remains with the impact that this merger of U.S. Steel into a foreign competitor will have on national security, our members and the communities where we live and work,' said David McCall, president of the United Steelworkers union.
The Independent
8 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
Starmer in race against time to stop Trump's shock 50% steel tariffs hitting UK
The UK faces a race against time to prevent Donald Trump 's swingeing new 50 per cent tariffs on steel hitting an already beleaguered critical industry. The US president sent shockwaves through the global economy when he announced on Friday that he would raise the tariffs from 25 per cent to 'further secure' the industry. 'We're going to bring it from 25 percent to 50 percent, the tariffs on steel into the United States of America, which will even further secure the steel industry in the United States. Nobody is going to get around that,' Trump told steel workers on a visit to a Pennsylvania plant. He later confirmed on his Truth Social platform that the change would be 'effective Wednesday, June 4'. A UK-US trade deal unveiled with much fanfare earlier this month should have exempted Britain from steel tariffs – but it has yet to be implemented. Ministers now face a scramble to ensure the agreement with the US is in place before Wednesday. The government is urgently seeking clarification from the US on what the latest announcement means for the UK, the Independent understands. Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds is also set to meet his US counterpart Jamieson Greer in a bid to secure an agreed timeline to lift the tariffs. But the face-to-face talks, after an OECD trade ministers summit in Paris, are thought to be scheduled for Wednesday, raising the prospect of an eleventh-hour showdown. Earlier this month President Trump hailed the trade agreement with the UK as a 'great deal for both countries', while the prime minister said the move would 'boost British businesses and save thousands of British jobs' and deliver on his promises to protect carmakers and save the UK's steel industry. Under its terms, levies on steel and aluminium were to be reduced to zero. However, a general 10 per cent tariff for other goods would remain and Britain agreed to scrap its tariff on ethanol coming into the UK from the US. But the Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the UK had been 'shafted' as she contrasted the amount UK business would have to pay with their costs before President Trump came to power. Last month MPs were forced to hold an unusual Saturday sitting to approve emergency plans to save British Steel 's Scunthorpe blast furnaces by taking control away from its Chinese owners. Although the new law stopped short of nationalisation, the government conceded it was "likely" British Steel would have to be taken into public ownership as Sir Keir warned the UK's economic and national security was "on the line". At the time, he said his government was 'turning the page on a decade of decline, where our manufacturing heartlands were hollowed out by the previous government. Our industry is the pride of our history - and I want it to be our future too." On Trump's new 50 per cent steel tariff announcement, a government spokesperson said: 'The UK was the first country to secure a trade deal with the US earlier this month and we remain committed to protecting British business and jobs across key sectors, including steel. 'We are engaging with the US on the implications of the latest tariff announcement and to provide clarity for industry.'
BBC News
15 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Business Matters Trump doubles tariffs on steel imports to 50%
American President Donald Trump has announced at a rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that the US will double tariffs on steel imports from 25% to 50% to boost the local steel industry. The announcement is the latest turn in Trump's rollercoaster approach to tariffs since re-entering office in January. Meanwhile, it was the last day at the White House for tech billionaire Elon Musk who has departed from his role at DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency.) We examine what he has achieved in the role, what his priorities will be at Tesla and Space X, and whether he and President Trump can remain friends And with the Indian economy showing a growth of 7.4% between January and March, beating analyst expectations, we analyse what's behind the numbers and if the growth can continue To discuss these and the big global business news of the day, presenter Devina Gupta, is joined by Andy Uhler, journalism fellow at University of Texas Energy Institute in the US and Rachel Cartland, author and commentator based in Hong Kong.
NHK
19 hours ago
- Business
- NHK
Trump to double steel, aluminum tariffs to 50%
US President Donald Trump says he will double tariffs on steel and aluminum to 50 percent, starting next Wednesday. The measure will likely cover imports from all countries and regions. Trump made the announcement on Friday in the state of Pennsylvania, where he was speaking at a rally about Nippon Steel's plan to acquire US Steel. He said the tariff hike from 25 percent to 50 percent "will even further secure the steel industry in the United States." Trump added that no one can avoid the levies. Trump later posted on social media that the increase would take effect on June 4. The Trump administration began imposing 25-percent additional tariffs on steel and aluminum imports in March. Trump stressed that his stance is to protect the domestic steel industry and workers. But concerns are likely to grow about the tariff hike accelerating inflation again, as US companies in a wide range of fields, such as aviation and energy, use imported steel products and aluminum.
