Trump announces tariffs on steel, aluminum to boost US industry

President Donald Trump plans to put new tariffs on steel and aluminum coming into the U.S., as previously promised.

Speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One on his way to the Super Bowl on Sunday, Trump said the new tolls would be announced Monday, according to the Associated Press.

“Any steel coming into the United States is going to have a 25% tariff,” Trump said, adding that aluminum would also see tariffs. 

CNBC reported that several analysts conclude that the biggest winner from the tariffs will be the U.S. steel industry. 

The business network said that domestic steel production has steadily declined over the last decade, falling 35% between 2014 and 2024. 

“At the start, this could damage demand,” James Campbell, commodity analyst at CRU, told CNBC. “In the longer term, we can see investment coming through.” 

Steelmaker stocks were up on Wall Street prior to the official announcement, said Reuters 

Steel producer Cleveland-Cliffs was up 11.7%, U.S. Steel was up 4% and aluminum manufacturer Alcoa was up 2.3%, said the wire service. 

In 2018, under the first Trump administration, an investigation into steel and aluminum imports found that even though the U.S. imposed no tariffs on steel, the U.S. still had to take action to prevent illegal dumping of steel into the U.S. at anti-competitive prices.  

“The United States is relatively unusual in that it has no tariffs on steel but has had to impose antidumping or countervailing duties in over 150 cases, with 13 more currently pending,” said a press release from the Commerce Department announcing the investigation. 

The investigation found that there were also serious national security considerations from U.S. dependence on foreign sources of steel and aluminum. 

The report noted that tariffs or quotas on steel have been imposed on a bipartisan basis in the past. 

“Prior significant actions to address steel imports using quotas and/or tariffs were taken under various statutory authorities by President George W. Bush, President William J. Clinton (three times), President George H. W. Bush, President Ronald W. Reagan (three times), President James E. Carter (twice), and President Richard M. Nixon, all at lower levels of import penetration than the present level, which is greater than 30 percent,” said the Commerce Department.   

Data from Reuters shows Canada, Brazil and Mexico account for 50% of U.S. steel imports at about 15 metric tons combined, with Vietnam, South Korea, Japan and Germany each contributing more than one metric ton to the import totals.  

At present, the U.S. imports about one-quarter of all steel used in the U.S. 

Critics of the tariffs complain that the new taxes will make goods such as automobiles more expensive, but inflation ran at just 2.46% in Trump’s first administration despite similar tariffs. 

The American Iron and Steel Institute welcomed the news of new tariffs, saying the tolls could help tackle several issues related to “foreign unfair trade practices and currency manipulation, ensuring full enforcement of our existing trade agreements and leveling the playing field by strengthening our antidumping and countervailing duty laws, including addressing the growing problem of transnational subsidies.”  

On Sunday, China imposed tariffs of its own on the U.S. in retaliation for new Trump tariffs on goods from the world’s largest communist country. 

In Trump’s last term, tariffs were seen as more of a negotiating tool with China’s President Xi Jinping. This time around, however, Trump has taken aim at China as the chief competitor for global power with the U.S. 

Trump has loaded his Cabinet with anti-China advisers, who have warned about China’s global ambitions. 

Consequently, Trump has taken a cooler tone about trade talks with the country as it vies for superpower status.  

“We’ll speak to him at the appropriate time. I’m in no rush,” Trump told reporters about talking to Xi about trade differences.