Trump orders 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum — without exceptions for allies
WASHINGTON — President Trump imposed sweeping 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum Monday night — with White House trade adviser Peter Navarro heralding the start of the “Trump 2.0 tariffs” as more levies loom.
“This is a big deal — making America rich again,” Trump said while signing the proclamations in the Oval Office — building upon duties on the same metals that he implemented in 2018 during his first term.
Trump’s first-term tariffs, which were kept in place by his successor, Joe Biden, slapped 25% charges on steel and 10% on aluminum, but most of the top importers were exempted.
“The Trump 2.0 tariffs are a direct response to the failed policies of the Biden administration, which allowed China, Russia, and many of our allies like Canada, Mexico, Brazil and the EU to manipulate trade and cripple US industry,” Navarro told reporters ahead of the signing ceremony.
“This isn’t just about trade, it’s about ensuring that America never has to rely on foreign nations for critical industries like steel and aluminum,” Navarro added.
America’s top four foreign steel sources are Canada (19% of imports), Brazil (18%), Mexico (13%) and South Korea (9%), according to the International Trade Administration. Japan, Russia and Germany each account for about 4% of US steel imports.
Canada accounted for almost 80% of US aluminum imports last year.
Trump has said that he also plans to impose copper tariffs in the near future.
Trump resumed his tariffs campaign after pausing plans to impose across-the-board 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico — granting both countries a reprieve until March 5 after they pledged to crack down on fentanyl smuggling and illegal immigration.
A 10% tariff on Chinese goods is moving forward as Beijing responds with retaliatory import taxes.
Trump also plans to announce as early as this week a policy of imposing reciprocal tariffs on any country that tariffs American imports and has hinted at plans for charges on pharmaceuticals and computer chips — arguing that while consumer costs may increase, it would be a long-term economic benefit.
The steel and aluminum tariffs, meanwhile, are being tightened from their prior iterations.
“Importantly, President Trump is expanding the tariffs to include key downstream products, including fabricated structural steel, pre-stressed concrete strand and similar types of products in the aluminum industry, like extrusions,” a White House official told reporters ahead of the signing.
“And the idea here is, if you think about the strategic game that these foreign nations play to exploit us, if you put a tariff on semi-finished steel, for example, then the next thing foreign countries will do is take the semi finished steel and make it into maybe a more likely finished product, and ship it over and it’s, it’s, it’s a game of trying to hit the gopher.”
The official added that “separately, when the Trump tariffs were imposed [in 2018], we had a product exclusion process, and that got completely out of control in the Biden years. There has been literally hundreds and hundreds of thousands of product exclusions approved, and millions of metric tons of steel and aluminum, as a result, have not been properly tariffed.
“So President Trump is hereby ending completely the product exclusion process,” the official said.
“The last problem we have is that a lot of countries will miss label their products to engage in tariff invasion. So President has directed US Customs and Border to dramatically increase its oversight of this and allow for strict penalties for misclassification and circumvention tactics.”
