Donald Trump Doubles Tariffs on Steel to 50%, Signals More Over China Rift

US President Donald Trump has announced that he will increase tariffs on steel and aluminium by an additional 25%, bringing the total to 50%. Trump said the move would help protect American workers as he celebrated a “blockbuster” agreement for Japan-based Nippon Steel’s to invest in US Steel.

After announcing the new punitive tariffs from a rally in Pennsylvania, Trump said that it would further secure the country's steel industry and “nobody is going to get around that.”

Following the announcement, Trump in a social media post also informed that the 50% tariffs on steel would also apply to imported aluminium and would take effect on 4 June.

Trump announced the higher tariffs just outside Pittsburgh, where he was talking up an agreement between Nippon Steel, opens new tab and US Steel. Trump said the $14.9bn deal, like the tariff increase, will help keep jobs for steel workers in the U.S.

The tariff announcement marked the end of a volatile week for trade policy. A trade court had just ruled President Trump’s sweeping “reciprocal” tariff framework illegal, though an appeals court stepped in with a stay, allowing the levies to remain in place for now. Earlier on Friday, Trump also voiced frustration with China, accusing Beijing of backtracking on a recently negotiated tariff truce. That outburst raised fresh concerns that more import duties could be on the horizon.

Shares of other US steel companies including Nucor Corp., Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. and Steel Dynamics Inc. rallied in after-hours trading. Cleveland-Cliffs shares jumped more than 15%, while Steel Dynamics and Nucor are up at least 5%.

Trump announced that US Steel workers would soon receive a $5,000 bonus and detailed that $2.2bn of the proposed $14bn investment would go toward boosting steel production at the Mon Valley Works plant, where he was addressing the crowd. He added that another $7bn would be allocated to modernise steel mills, ramp up ore mining and set up new facilities across Indiana, Minnesota, Alabama and Arkansas.

In the second week of this month, India initiated its first retaliatory move against the Trump administration’s tariffs, even as trade deal negotiations between the two sides remain ongoing. India informed the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that the US tariffs on steel and aluminium qualify as “safeguard measures” — a form of trade restriction — which, it argued, would significantly hurt Indian exports. Citing WTO rules, New Delhi said it reserves the right to “suspend concessions or other obligations” in response to the US duties. India has yet to react to this new announcement made by Trump.