United States President Donald Trump has announced that his administration will raise tariffs on steel imports from 25% to 50%. Speaking at a rally outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Trump framed the tariff increase as a boon to the domestic manufacturing 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,” Trump told the crowd. “Nobody’s going to get around that.”
The tariff hike’s impact on existing free-trade pacts with Canada and Mexico, as well as a separate trade deal with the United Kingdom, remains unclear. Trump also hailed a “blockbuster agreement” between Japan’s Nippon Steel and US Steel, saying the deal would include Nippon making a “$14bn commitment to the future” of US Steel.
“There’s never been a $14bn investment in the history of the steel industry in the United States of America,” Trump said. However, the acquisition has been met with opposition from labor unions, with the national United Steelworkers Union questioning whether the new arrangement makes “any meaningful change” from the initial proposal.
Rachel Ziemba, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, noted that the latest tariff hike signals limited benefits for trade deals with Trump, given the sudden shifts in his policies. “The challenge is that hiking the steel tariffs may be good for steel workers, but it is bad for manufacturing and the energy sector, among others,” she said. “So overall, it is not great for the US economy and adds uncertainty to the macro outlook.”
Trump’s tariff policies have faced legal challenges, with businesses, interest groups, and states filing lawsuits to stop the tax hikes on imports. Critics also point out that steel prices have risen in the US by roughly 16% since Trump took office.
In his speech, Trump emphasized the importance of the steel industry to the US economy, saying, “If you don’t have steel, you don’t have a country.” The rally was part of Trump’s efforts to reassure his base of voters following a tumultuous start to his second term.