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Donald Trump said on Monday he would impose a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports and expand trade disputes into the metals sector with a new burst of protectionism from Washington.
The US president made the announcement during a briefing with reporters when he flew from Florida’s Mar-a-Lago Estate to attend the Super Bowl in New Orleans on Sunday evening.
Canada, China and Mexico were the largest exporters of steel and aluminum products to the US in 2023, but the proposed taxation would potentially involve countries from Brazil to Germany and South Korea.
Trump’s promises targeting the metals industry in his first term hit stocks in some European and South Korean steel producers on Monday. The president has begun his second term in a aggressive trade policy that rattles currency markets and sparks new matches of US inflation and a fear-raising targeting America’s biggest trading partners.
In addition to measures on steel and aluminum products, Trump will announce new mutual tariffs later that week, without giving details, to target imports from a wide range of countries that will tax US exports. He spoke.
The European Commission responds to Trump’s pledge to launch tariffs on steel and aluminum, adding that it will “react to protect the interests of European businesses, workers and consumers from unfair measures,” and that it will levie taxes. He added that he has not received official notifications.
In his first term as President Trump, after President Trump imposed 25% tariffs and 10% on steel before granting exemptions to several trading partners, including Canada and Mexico, hence 10% on aluminum I imposed the following.
The EU retaliated the 2018 tariffs by imposing taxes on a series of US imports, including bourbon whiskey, Harley-Davidson motorcycles and motorboats.
Joe Biden later reached an agreement with the EU, replacing tariffs with a quota system, which also allowed him to recharge his duties this year if the consultation between sides did not progress. Under the contract, the EU is expected to re-impose US imports of 4.8 billion euros at the end of March.
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His tariff announcements have rocked the currency market since Trump returned to the White House last month, but the dollar index rose just 0.1% on Monday as traders awaited further details of the proposed measure.
Aluminum traded on the London Metal Exchange was $2,639, up 0.4% per tonne.
ArcelorMittal shares were down about 2%, relying on the US for around 13% of sales. Shares of Korean steel manufacturers Hyundai Steel and Posco Holdings have closed 2% and 0.8% in Seoul, respectively.
Tariffs on metal imports are defended by some US trade unions and domestic producers, but there is a risk of increasing input costs for a wide range of US manufacturers. In 2023, the US imported $82.1 billion in steel and iron and $27.4 billion in aluminum, and exported $43.3 billion in steel and iron and $14.3 billion in aluminum.
The steel industry has historically been a lightning bolt of trade tensions, with several countries introducing taxes on imports last year. The US tripled tariffs on China’s steel last year, and the EU began an anti-damping investigation on China’s tin-coated steel products. Mexico and Brazil also raised tariffs.
South Korea’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy held an emergency meeting with steel industry executives on Monday as they competed to find details. “We will respond proactively and proactively to minimize the impact on us,” he said.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his company has “inves heavily invested in the US steel industry, which creates thousands of jobs in both the US and Australia.”
“We will continue to assert Australia’s national interests on the US administration,” Albanese said.
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Trump’s latest pledge comes when the White House says that Joe Biden will block the acquisition of US steel from Japan Steel following the decision to do the same.
But Trump said Pennsylvania-based producers will work to allow large investments, not the majority of stocks by Japanese rivals, and argued that tariffs would be helpful. “The tariffs will make (US steel) very successful, and I think it has good management,” the president said.
Nippon Steel’s shares closed 0.5% in Tokyo.
Additional reports by Sam Lerner of New York, additional reports by Arjun Neil Alim of Hong Kong, Nick Phildes of Melbourne, Song A of Seoul, Sylvia Pfeiffer of London and Andy Bound of Brussels
