Trump to impose 25% tariff on steel, aluminium imports
By Benjamin Chiou
Date: Monday 10 Feb 2025
(Sharecast News) - The US government is to impose 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports into the country from Monday, president Donald Trump has announced.
The latest protectionist measures come ahead of a string reciprocal tariffs that Trump has promised to unveil in the coming days, targeting countries that already charge additional duties on American-made goods.
"Very simply, it's, if they charge us, we charge them," Trump said to reporters onboard Air Force One on his way to the NFL Super Bowl on Sunday.
The US is the world's largest importer of steel, with around a quarter of all steel used made on foreign soil. The country currently gets around half of its steel from Canada, Brazil and Mexico combined, according to the latest figures. Meanwhile, around half of all aluminium is imported, the majority of which comes from Canada.
The latest measures come in the aftermath of Nippon Steel's failed takeover of US Steel last year, which was rejected by both former president Joe Biden and Trump himself, who both expressed a desire to keep the American manufacturer under domestic ownership.
Trump said on Sunday that he would only allow the Japanese firm to buy a minority stake in US Steel.
At the weekend, China announced it would place tariffs on $14bn of US-made goods in response to Trump's flat 10% tariff on all Chinese imports, quashing hopes that a trade war between Beijing and Washington would be averted.
"Hopes that the US could roll back on tariffs like it did with Mexico and Canada were dashed, and the new measures from China will also include export restrictions for rare earth minerals, which are vital to produce smart phones, some chips, batteries and infrastructure for renewable technology, which could weigh on tech stocks at the start of this week," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.
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