EU hits back as Trump's global steel tariffs take effect
By Abigail Townsend
Date: Wednesday 12 Mar 2025
(Sharecast News) - Donald Trump's trade war escalated on Wednesday, after worldwide tariffs on steel and aluminium imports to the US came into effect.
The 25% duty, which the White House announced last month, came into effect in the early hours of Wednesday morning,
A further 25% on Canadian imports was also announced, but was rowed back just an hour later, after Ontario suspended its own 25% surcharge on electricity exports.
In response, the European Union has confirmed "countermeasures" on €26bn of US goods, ranging from steel and plastics to bourbon and agricultural goods.
Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission president, said: "We deeply regret the US tariffs imposed on Europe. Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and even worse for consumers. Today Europe takes strong but proportionate countermeasures."
In the UK, business secretary Jonathan Reynolds called the tariffs "disappointing", but declined to respond with immediate countermeasures.
Instead, Reynolds said the government was "focused on a pragmatic approach" and would continue to try and negotiate a broader trade deal with the US.
Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese said the duties were "entirely unjustified" and went against the spirit of the two countries' "enduring friendship".
Trump's at times chaotic imposition of tariffs, including on key trading partners like Canada, has unnerved markets and threatened the global economy.
Fears are also mounting that higher prices could push the US into recession. America imports more steel than any other country, the bulk of which is from Canada. The UK, meanwhile, is a leading supplier of specialist steel products which are critical to its defence and aerospace sectors.
However, US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick dismissed those concerns, telling CBS on Wednesday: "These policies are the most important thing America has ever had.
"The only reason there could possibly be a recession is because the Biden nonsense that we had to live with. These policies produce revenues. They produce growth. They produce factories being built here.
"It's not chaotic."
Trump, meanwhile, told Fox News the US was in a "period of transition", adding "What we're doing is very big.
"It takes a little time, but I think it should be great for us."
ING said: "Markets have been looking for some reprieve from the tariff story, but there are very few signs that stock instability can press Trump to scale back protectionism noise just yet."
MUFG said: "The steel and aluminium tariffs are likely to be the first act on all US trading partners and the first actions taken beyond China that are likely to stay.
"So escalation is more real now and points to probable action by the US on 2 April, which looks like the date when we could get a real significant uplift in the escalation of the trade conflict."
The EU's countermeasures are due to come into effect on 13 April.
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