Latest news with #steelworkers
CTV News
3 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
‘Direct attack on Canadian workers': Steel and aluminum sector reacts to Trump doubling tariffs
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the U.S. Steel Mon Valley Works–Irvin Plant, Friday, May 30, 2025, in West Mifflin, Pa. (AP Photo/David Dermer) WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said he will double the tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to 50 per cent next Wednesday. Trump initially announced the boosted duties on steel during a rally at U.S. Steel's Mon Valley Works–Irvin Plant near Pittsburgh Friday evening. He told a cheering crowd of steelworkers that the increased levies will 'further secure the steel industry in the United States.' 'Nobody is going to get around that,' Trump said. In a post on social media after the rally, Trump said he would also be increasing tariffs on aluminum to 50 per cent. 'Our steel and aluminum industries are coming back like never before,' Trump posted. 'This will be yet another BIG jolt of great news for our wonderful steel and aluminum workers. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!' In March, Trump put 25-per-cent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to the United States. Trump used Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to impose steel and aluminum duties and said it will help bring manufacturing back to the United States. Canada is the largest steel supplier to the United States, accounting for nearly 25 per cent of all imports in 2023. About a quarter of all steel used in America is imported. Trump on Friday said he was thinking about a 40-per-cent tariff, but said 'the group' wanted it to be 50 per cent. As the duties have increased with Trump's tariffs, the government's producer price index found the price of steel products has gone up roughly 16 per cent. Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, said Trump's plan to double steel and aluminum tariffs is 'yet another direct attack on Canadian workers and a reckless move that will send shockwaves across the Canadian economy.' 'This decision will shut us out of the U.S. market completely, devastating Canada's steel and aluminum industry and threatening thousands of good-paying, unionized Canadian jobs,' Bruske said. Bruske said that, in light of the escalating threat, Canada's unions call for immediate government action to protect workers. That includes emergency reforms to employment insurance and wage subsidies. 'We need a government that is prepared to stand up for Canadian industries, invest in good union jobs, and protect our economic sovereignty in the face of growing international uncertainty,' Bruske said. Candace Laing, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement that unwinding the 'efficient, competitive and reliable' cross-border supply chains in steel and aluminum 'comes at a great cost to both countries.' Laing said that, in 2018 under the last round of steel and aluminum tariffs, there was significant net negative job loss in America. 'Doubling the steel and aluminum tariffs to 50 (per cent) is antithetical to North American economic security,' she said. 'The fact remains that Canada is a reliable and secure trading partner that supplies materials that sustain American jobs.' Economists have said tariffs on steel and aluminum during the first Trump administration were costly for American companies and consumers. Trump used national security powers to impose a 25-per-cent tariff on steel imports and a 10-per-cent tariff on aluminum imports in March 2018. Nearly a year later, the White House announced a deal had been reached to prevent 'surges' in steel and aluminum supplies from Canada and Mexico, ending the trade dispute. A report by the Washington-based Tax Foundation said during that time companies were forced to pay higher prices and the duties resulted in the loss of about 75,000 manufacturing jobs. The Peterson Institute for International Economics found that each job saved in steel-producing industries came at a high cost to consumers – roughly $650,000 per job. The Canadian steel industry has warned the return of Trump's tariffs would bring back the disruption and harm seen in 2018. There were also job losses and production pauses in Canada. Trump announced the increased tariffs during a rally to celebrate a deal between Japan-based Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel. Trump said U.S. Steel will stay an American company but few details of the deal have been made public. Nippon Steel issued a statement approving of the proposed 'partnership.' It's not clear if a deal has been finalized. The surge in duties on steel and aluminum imports come after the president faced his first major legal pushback against use of a different emergency power to impose sweeping tariffs on most nations in the world. The president used the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, usually referred to by the acronym IEEPA, to enact his so-called 'Liberation Day' and fentanyl-related tariffs. On Wednesday, the U.S. Court of International Trade blocked those tariffs saying Trump went beyond his authority to use IEEPA to take his trade war to the world. The following day, a federal appeals court granted the Trump administration's emergency motion for a temporary stay – allowing those tariffs to stay in place, for now. — With files from Catherine Morrison in Ottawa and The Associated Press This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 30, 2025. Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Donald Trump announces he will DOUBLE tariffs on imported steel in crushing blow to Australia's billion-dollar export industry
United States President Donald Trump has announced he will increase the tariff on imported steel from 25 per cent to 50 per cent. Trump made the shock announcement at a steel plant in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. 'We are going to be imposing a 25 per cent increase,' he told the crowd of workers. 'We're going to bring it from 25 per cent to 50 per cent the tariffs on steel into the United States of America, which will even further secure the steel industry in the United States.' The move is separate to the Liberation Day tariffs, which was reinstated by a United States court just a day after they were deemed illegal last week. More to come.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Trump announces 50% steel tariffs and hails ‘blockbuster' deal with Japan
Donald Trump announced he was doubling foreign tariffs on steel imports to 50%, as he celebrated a 'blockbuster' agreement for Japan-based Nippon Steel's to invest in US Steel during a rally in Pennsylvania. Surrounded by men in orange hardhats, Trump unveiled the tariff rate increase as he spoke at a US Steel plant in West Mifflin, declaring that the dramatic hike would 'even further secure the steel industry in the United States'. 'Nobody is going to get around that,' Trump said, of the tariff rate hike from what was 25%. The announcement comes a day after a federal appeals court temporarily allowed Trump's tariffs to remain in effect staying a decision by a US trade court that blocked the president from imposing the duties. During his remarks, Trump gloated that the Nippon investment would once again make the American steelmaker 'synonymous with greatness' and included protections to 'ensure that all steel workers will keep their jobs and all facilities in the United States will remain open and thriving' – prompting the crowd to start a round of 'U-S-A!' chants. Few details have been publicly released, but Trump told the steelworkers in attendance that there was 'a lot of money coming your way'. 'You're going to say, 'Please, sir, we don't want this kind of success. It's too much, sir,'' the president said. Trump has thrown his full support behind the 'partnership' between the Japanese and American steel giants, months after insisting he was 'totally against' a $14.9bn bid by Nippon Steel for its US rival. The president also asserted that the agreement ensured US Steel would remain under American control. Trump framed the administration's drive to boost domestic steel production as 'not just a matter of dignity or prosperity or pride' but as 'above all, a matter of national security'. He blamed 'decades of Washington betrayals and incompetence and stupidity and corruption' for hollowing out the once-dominant American steel industry, as the jobs 'melted away, just like butter'. 'We don't want America's future to be built with shoddy steel from Shanghai. We want it built with the strength and the pride of Pittsburgh,' he said. In his remarks at a US steel plant, Trump also repeated many of the false claims that have become a feature of his rallies including the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him. He gloated over his 2024 victory and, gesturing toward his ear that was grazed by a would-be assassin's bullet last year at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, said it was proof that a higher power was watching over him. He also called on Congress to pass his 'one big, beautiful bill,' urging residents to push their Republican congressman and senator to back the bill.
Washington Post
3 days ago
- Business
- Washington Post
Trump says he will double steel tariffs to 50 percent
President Donald Trump said Friday that he planned to double tariffs on steel imports into the U.S. from 25 percent to 50 percent. Speaking at a rally at U.S. Steel in Pennsylvania, Trump said the raised tariff rate would 'even further secure the steel industry in the United States.' Trump traveled to speak to steelworkers after announcing a 'partnership' last week between the storied U.S. company and Japanese rival Nippon Steel.
BreakingNews.ie
3 days ago
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Trump says he is going to double tariffs on foreign steel from 25% to 50%
President Donald Trump said that he is doubling the tariff rate on steel to 50%, a dramatic increase that could further push up prices for a metal used to make housing, cars and other goods. Mr Trump spoke at US Steel's Mon Valley Works–Irvin Plant in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, to discuss investments by Japan's Nippon Steel. Advertisement The price of steel products has increased roughly 16% since Mr Trump became president, according to the government's producer price index. Mr Trump said US Steel will stay an American company under a deal for Japan-based Nippon to invest in the steelmaker. Few details about the deal have been made public. President Donald Trump talks to workers as he tours US Steel (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) 'We're here today to celebrate a blockbuster agreement that will ensure this storied American company stays an American company,' Mr Trump said as he opened an event at one of US Steel's warehouses near Pittsburgh. 'You're going to stay an American company, you know that, right?' Advertisement Mr Trump said doubling the tariffs on imported steel 'will even further secure the steel industry in the US'. But such a dramatic increase could push prices even higher. Employees, Trump supporters, local officials and others filled one of the massive warehouses on the grounds of the Irvin finishing plant to hear Mr Trump. Giant American flags hung from the ceiling and a sign read, 'The Golden Age'. Steelworkers in orange hard hats and work clothes milled about, and part of the warehouse's cement floor was packed with huge rolled coils of shiny steel sheet produced at the plant and used for appliances, doors and other applications. Advertisement Though Mr Trump initially vowed to block the Japanese steelmaker's bid to buy Pittsburgh-based US Steel, he changed course and announced an agreement last week for what he described as 'partial ownership' by Nippon. It is not clear, though, if the deal his administration helped broker has been finalised or how ownership would be structured. Mr Trump stressed the deal would maintain American control of the company, which is seen as both a political symbol and an important matter for the country's supply chain, industries like car manufacturing and national security. Mr Trump, who has been eager to strike deals and announce new investments in the US since retaking the White House, is also trying to satisfy voters, including blue-collar workers, who elected him as he called to protect US manufacturing. Advertisement US Steel has not publicly communicated any details of a revamped deal to investors. Nippon Steel issued a statement approving of the proposed 'partnership' but also has not disclosed terms of the arrangement.
