Donald Trump’s 50% Tariffs on Steel, Aluminium Imports from Today to Pressure India’s $4.5Bn Exports

The tariffs on most steel and aluminium imported to the US has been doubled from Wednesday, June 4, as President Donald Trump late Tuesday signed an proclamation regarding the same. This follows his sudden announcement of additional 25% tariffs on imported steel and aluminium last week, making it a total of 50%.

"President Trump just signed a proclamation raising tariffs on steel and aluminum imports by 50% to protect U.S. steel and national security," said The White House, calling it a 'golden age."

"We started at 25 and then after studying the data more, realised that it was a big help, but more help is needed. And so that is why the 50 is starting tomorrow," White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said in explaining the move at a steel industry conference in Washington on Tuesday, as per Reuters. The increase came into effect at 12:01 am EST.

The new tariff hike will be imposed across its trading partners except for Britain, as it signed a mini trade agreement recently with the US. The rate for steel and aluminium imports from the UK, which does not rank among the top exporters of either metal to the US, will remain at 25% until at least July 9.

Notably, Wednesday also marks the day when the White House would like trading partners to submit their proposals for deals that might help them avoid Trump's hefty "Liberation Day" tariffs from taking effect in five weeks. After announcing "reciprocal" tariffs on April 2, Trump paused them for 90-days, claiming to provide some room for discussion. However, the 10% base tariff remained applicable to all.

India is one of the countries, which the US claimed that is "trying hard" to strike a deal at the earliest. Meanwhile, Washington has rejected India’s notice at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which proposed retaliatory action against the 25% US tariffs on steel and aluminium, arguing that the tariffs were imposed on national security grounds.

In FY25, India exported $4.56bn worth of iron, steel and aluminium products to the US, including $587.5mn in iron and steel, $3.1bn in articles of iron or steel, and $860mn in aluminium and related goods. Now exporters are worried that the higher US tariffs will dampen their profitability and business.