Trump Announces Tariffs on Steel, Aluminum Imports

US President Donald Trump has announced plans to impose a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum imports, along with reciprocal tariffs on countries that levy duties on US goods, Al Jazeera reports.

President Trump stated on Sunday that he would formally announce the tariffs on steel and aluminum the following day and the countervailing levies later in the week. He indicated that the retaliatory tariffs would not affect all countries.

“Very simply, it’s if they charge us, we charge them,” President Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “If they are charging us 130 percent and we’re charging them nothing, it’s not going to stay that way.”

According to US government and American Iron and Steel Institute data, Canada is the leading supplier of steel to the US, followed by Brazil, Mexico, South Korea, and Vietnam. Canada is also the top exporter of aluminum to the US, with China, Mexico, and the United Arab Emirates being other major suppliers.

Canadian Minister of Innovation, Francois-Philippe Champagne, responded in a post on X:

“Canadian steel and aluminum support key industries in the US from defence, shipbuilding and auto.” He added, “This is making North America more competitive and secure. We will continue to stand up for Canada, our workers, and our industries.”

These latest tariff statements follow President Trump’s announcement last month of plans to impose 25 percent tariffs on all Canadian and Mexican goods, as well as a 10 percent tariff on Chinese imports. The measures on Canada and Mexico were later delayed after both countries pledged to increase efforts to stem the flow of illegal drugs and undocumented migrants across the US border. The tariffs against China, which prompted retaliatory tariffs on US exports, took effect on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, President Trump suggested that the European Union could be next to face tariffs, stating that the bloc imports “almost nothing” from the US while the US takes “everything.”

“The EU is really out of line. It is an atrocity, what they have done,” he said on February 2, adding, “I do not have a timetable but it is coming very soon.”

Asia’s stock markets showed a mixed reaction to the latest comments, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 down 0.1 percent but Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s SSE Composite up 1.2 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively, as of 02:30 GMT.