WORLD
US President Trump to double tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium
- IBJ Bureau
- Jun 01, 2025
US President Donald Trump has announced that the US will double its current tariff on steel and aluminium imports from 25 to 50 per cent, starting on Wednesday.
Speaking at a rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Friday, Mr Trump said that the move would help boost the local steel industry and national supply, while reducing reliance on China.
Mr Trump also said that $14 billion would be invested in the area’s steel production through a partnership between US Steel and Japan's Nippon Steel, though he later told reporters he had yet to see or approve the final deal.
The announcement is the latest turn in Mr Trump's rollercoaster approach to tariffs since re-entering office in January.
“There will be no layoffs and no outsourcing whatsoever, and every US steelworker will soon receive a well-deserved $5,000 bonus,” Mr Trump told the crowd, filled with steelworkers, to raucous applause.
One of the major concerns from steelworkers about the US-Japan trade deal was how Japan would honour the workers’ union contract which regulates pay and hiring.
Mr Trump began his remarks by saying he had “saved” US Steel, America’s biggest steel manufacturer, located in Pittsburgh, with the 25 per cent tariffs that he had implemented during his first term as president in 2018.
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