BY JEFF MASON
WEST MIFFLIN, Pennsylvania — US President Donald Trump said on Friday he planned to increase tariffs on imported steel and aluminum to 50 percent from 25 percent, ratcheting up pressure on global steel producers and deepening his trade war.
“We are going to be imposing a 25 percent increase. 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,” he said at a rally in Pennsylvania.
The doubling of steel and aluminum levies intensifies Trump’s global trade war and came just hours after he accused China of violating an agreement with the US to mutually roll back tariffs and trade restrictions for critical minerals.
Trump announced the higher tariffs just outside Pittsburgh, where he was talking up an agreement between Nippon Steel and US Steel. Trump said the $14.9 billion deal, like the tariff increase, will help keep jobs for steel workers in the US
He later posted on social media that the increased tariff would also apply to aluminum products and that it would take effect on Wednesday.
Shares of steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs Inc surged 26 percent after the market close as investors bet the new levies will help its profits.
The announcement drew harsh reactions from US trading partners around the world.
Canada’s Chamber of Commerce quickly denounced the tariff hike as “antithetical to North American economic security.”
“Unwinding the efficient, competitive and reliable cross-border supply chains like we have in steel and aluminum comes at a great cost to both countries,” Candace Laing, president of the chamber, said in a statement.
Canada’s United Steelworkers union called the move a direct attack on Canadian industries and workers.
The European Commission said on Saturday that Europe is prepared to retaliate.
“This decision adds further uncertainty to the global economy and increases costs for consumers and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic,” a European Commission spokesperson said.
“The EU is prepared to impose countermeasures, including in response to the latest US tariff increase.” – Reuters
