Trump will impose a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum
On February 9, local time, US President Trump said that he would announce a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum products imported into the United States the next day. And eliminate tax exemptions for major suppliers of steel and aluminum, such as Canada, Mexico and Brazil.
The White House said the new tariffs, which would be stacked on top of existing steel and aluminum tariffs, marked another "significant escalation" in Trump's trade policy overhaul.
The new steel tariffs will be stacked on top of existing metal tariffs, and on the issue of tariffs against other countries, Trump said in his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on the 7th local time that he planned to announce reciprocal tariff measures this week "to ensure that we are treated equally with other countries."
At present, German Chancellor Scholz has responded that if the United States imposes tariffs on the EU, Europe is ready to respond quickly.
On the 9th local time, Trump told the media on the "Air Force One" presidential plane that the 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum will apply to "all countries", including Allies and trading partners such as Canada and Mexico. However, Trump did not specify when the tariffs would take effect.
In his first term, Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on steel and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum, but later granted duty-free quotas to several trading partners, including Canada, Mexico and Brazil, while maintaining tariffs on the European Union and others. It was only under the subsequent Biden administration that duty-free quotas were extended to US trading partners such as the UK, Japan and the European Union.
The top sources of U.S. steel imports include Canada, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and Vietnam. Among them, Canada is the main supplier of primary aluminum metal to the United States, accounting for a significant proportion of total imports to the United States. Mexico is a major supplier of scrap and aluminum alloys to the United States. Trump's tariff plan will undoubtedly have an impact on exports from these countries, but it could also affect U.S. energy companies that rely on specialty steel made outside the United States.
China, an important trading partner of the United States, has also reacted strongly to Mr. Trump's tariff plan. China's Ministry of Commerce has said it will take the US tax measures to the WTO dispute settlement mechanism and announced additional tariffs on some imports from the US. The series of moves suggests that Trump's tariff plans will not only be controversial at home, but could also spark a broader trade conflict internationally.
