US PRESIDENT Donald Trump said on Sunday (Feb 9) that he will announce on Monday new 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports into the US, which would come on top of existing metals duties in another major escalation of his trade policy overhaul.
Trump, speaking to reporters on Air Force One, on his way to the NFL Super Bowl in New Orleans, also said he will announce reciprocal tariffs on Tuesday or Wednesday, to take effect almost immediately.
He said the US would match tariff rates levied by other countries and that this would apply to all countries.
“And very simply, it’s, if they charge us, we charge them,” Trump said of the reciprocal tariff plan.
Trump during his first term imposed tariffs of 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent on aluminium, but later granted several trading partners duty-free quotas, including Canada, Mexico and Brazil.
Former President Joe Biden extended these quotas to Britain, Japan and the European Union, and US steel mill capacity utilisation has dropped in recent years.
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According to government and American Iron and Steel Institute data, the largest sources of US steel imports are Canada, Brazil and Mexico, followed by South Korea and Vietnam.
By a large margin, Canada is the largest supplier of primary aluminium metal to the United States, accounting for 79 per cent of total imports in the first 11 months of 2024. Mexico is a major supplier of aluminium scrap and aluminium alloy.
Matching rates
Trump said he would hold a news conference on Tuesday or Wednesday to provide detailed information on the reciprocal tariff plan, adding that he first revealed on Friday that he was planning reciprocal tariffs to ensure “that we are treated evenly with other countries”.
The new US president has long complained about the EU’s 10 per cent tariffs on auto imports being much higher than the US car rate of 2.5 per cent. He frequently states that Europe “will not take our cars” but ships millions west across the Atlantic every year.
The US, however, enjoys a 25 per cent tariff on pickup trucks, a vital source of profits for Detroit automakers General Motors , Ford and Stellantis’ US operations.
The US trade-weighted average tariff rate is about 2.2 per cent, according to World Trade Organization data, compared to 12 per cent for India, 6.7 per cent for Brazil, 5.1 per cent for Vietnam and 2.7 per cent for European Union countries. REUTERS
