The trade penalties, 25% on imported steel and 10% on imported aluminum, take effect at midnight, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told reporters Thursday.
The announcement immediately raised the risk of retaliatory tariffs against American products.
Trump announced worldwide steel and aluminum tariffs in March but granted exemptions to some major trading partners.
Canada, Mexico and the EU were among the countries granted relief while the United States pursued negotiations to address the administration’s concerns about the state of domestic steel and aluminum production. Those negotiations had a Friday deadline.
Trump’s decision could raise prices for Americans on a range of everyday products. It could also place the United States in a trade dispute on more than one front. The administration is separately moving ahead with tariffs on Chinese goods.
Trump imposed the steel and aluminum penalties under a 1962 law that gives the president broad power to increase or reduce tariffs on goods deemed critical to national security.
“We take the view that without a strong economy, you cannot have strong national security,” Ross told reporters.
Trump’s announcement lifted American steel and aluminum stocks because those companies stand to benefit from penalties against their foreign competitors. U.S. Steel climbed 3%. But the broader market sank because of trade war fears. The Dow fell about 200 points.
Europe had promised swift retaliation if it was hit with the trade penalties, and had warned it could quickly respond with 25% tariffs on US products such as motorcycles, denim, cigarettes, cranberry juice and peanut butter.
Getting rid of the exemptions for Canada and Mexico, meanwhile, could complicate ongoing negotiations on NAFTA. Canada had also pledged to retaliate.
“Should restrictions be imposed on Canadian steel and aluminum products, Canada will take responsive measures to defend its trade interests and workers,” Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said in March.
The NAFTA talks were one factor in the administration’s decision to grant exemptions to Canada and Mexico from the steel and aluminum tariffs. But Ross said Thursday that those talks “are taking longer than we hoped.”
Source – CNN