Donald Trump has said he will announce new 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports into the US on Monday that would affect “everybody’, including its largest trading partners Canada and Mexico, in another major escalation of his trade policy overhaul.
Trump’s pre-announcement came as China’s retaliatory tariffs, announced last week, came into effect. The measures target $14bn worth of products with a 15% tariff on coal and LNG, and 10% on crude oil, farm equipment and some vehicles.
The US president, speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Sunday, also said he would announce reciprocal tariffs – raising US tariff rates to match those of trading partners – on Tuesday or Wednesday, which would take effect “almost immediately”. “And very simply, it’s, if they charge us, we charge them,” Trump said of the reciprocal tariff plan.
Monday’s tariffs would come on top of existing metals duties.
The largest sources of US steel imports are Canada, Brazil and Mexico, followed by South Korea and Vietnam, according to government and American Iron and Steel Institute data.
By a large margin, Canada is the largest supplier of primary aluminium metal to the US, accounting for 79% of total imports in the first 11 months of 2024. Mexico is a major supplier of aluminium scrap and aluminium alloy.
The move on steel and aluminium brought a swift reaction from Doug Ford, the premier of the Canadian province of Ontario, who accused the US president of “shifting goalposts and constant chaos” that would put the economy at risk.
During his first term, Trump imposed tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminium, but later granted several trading partners duty-free quotas, including Canada, Mexico and Brazil.
Joe Biden extended these quotas to Britain, Japan and the European Union, and US steel mill capacity utilization has dropped in recent years. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said that the new tariffs would come on top of the existing duties on steel and aluminium.
Trump’s rollout of tariffs has been widely criticised and prompted volatile market reactions and fears of more to come. Beijing has lodged a complaint with the World Trade Organization, but otherwise has been muted in its response. The tariffs imposed by Trump are far below the level he had threatened during the election campaign, and analysts have said China was prepared for them.
Beijing’s actions – which also include investigations into several US companies including Google – were seen by analysts as measured and allowing room for negotiation.
Amid wider pushback against Trump’s economic heavy-handedness, French President Emmanuel Macron warned in an interview broadcast on Sunday that he was willing to go “head-to-head” on tariffs with the US president. “I already did so, and I will did [sic] it again.”
Macron told CNN that the EU should not be a “top priority” for the US, saying: “Is the European Union your first problem? No, I don’t think so. Your first problem is China, so you should focus on the first problem.”
Macron said tariffs would harm European economies but also the US, given the level of economic ties. “It means if you put tariffs on a lot of sectors, it will increase the costs and create inflation in the US. Is it what your people want? I’m not so sure,” he said.
He said the EU must be ready to react to US actions, but stressed that the 27-nation bloc should mainly “act for ourselves”. “This is why, for me, the top priority of Europe is competitiveness agenda, is defence and security agenda, is AI ambition, and let’s go fast for ourselves.
“If in the meanwhile, we have [a] tariff issue; we will discuss them and we will fix it.”
Trump has long complained about the EU’s 10% tariffs on auto imports being much higher than the US car rate of 2.5%. He frequently states that Europe “won’t take our cars” but ships millions west across the Atlantic every year.
The European Commission said on Monday it would react to protect EU interests, but said it would not respond until it had detailed or written clarification of the measures. “The EU sees no justification for the imposition of tariffs on its exports. We will react to protect the interests of European businesses, workers and consumers from unjustified measures,” the commission said in a statement.
German economy minister Robert Habeck said on Monday: “Europe must and can only react unitedly and decisively to unilateral trade restrictions. And we are prepared for this.”
A spokesman for Britain’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, said the UK had not seen details of the proposed tariffs but was prepared for all developments. Industry body UK Steel said any tariffs would represent a “devastating blow” to the sector, harming high-end steel exports to the US, which is Britain’s second largest export market after the European Union.
Trump has also flagged tariffs against Taiwan’s semiconductor industry – which he has repeatedly and without evidence accused of stealing US business. Taiwan now appears to be scrambling to prevent that happening. This week senior economic officials will fly to the US to meet their counterparts. Taiwan’s government and state-run petroleum company are also reportedly taking steps to buy more US gas and oil to reduce Taiwan’s trade surplus – a key factor cited by Trump in enacting tariffs.
Financial markets were mostly muted in response to Trump’s comments but gold reached a record high and aluminium prices rose on Monday. The spot price of gold increased by more than 1% to $2,896 (£2,336) an ounce, while aluminium rose 0.3% to $2,635 (£2,122) a tonne.
Reuters contributed to this report
