Trump to announce 25 per cent steel, aluminium tariffs

President Donald Trump says the United States will impose 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports, in another major escalation of his trade policy overhaul.

“Any steel coming into the United States is going to have a 25 per cent tariff,” he told reporters Sunday on Air Force One as he flew from Florida to New Orleans to attend the Super Bowl.

When asked about aluminium, he responded, “aluminium, too” will be subject to the trade penalties.

It’s not yet clear how and if Australia, which exports around $US300 million ($A479 million) worth of steel and a similar amount of aluminium to the US a year, will be affected.

The Australian government has recently argued that the country has a trade deficit with the US, and that should be taken into consideration.

During the first Trump presidency, Australia was given an exemption from such tariffs based on that argument but if tariffs are imposed, the flow-on effect for its producers could be challenging.

Trump also reaffirmed that he would announce “reciprocal tariffs” ? “probably Tuesday or Wednesday” ? meaning that the US would impose import duties on products in cases where another country has levied duties on US goods.

“And very simply, it’s, if they charge us, we charge them,” Trump said of the reciprocal tariff plan.

Trump’s comments are the latest example of his willingness to threaten, and in some cases to impose, import taxes.

Trump during his first term imposed tariffs of 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent on aluminium, but later granted several trading partners duty-free quotas, including Canada, Mexico and Brazil.

Former President Joe Biden extended these quotas to Britain, Japan and the European Union, and US steel mill capacity utilisation has dropped in recent years.

According to government and American Iron and Steel Institute data, the largest sources of US steel imports are Canada, Brazil and Mexico, followed by South Korea and Vietnam.

Tariffs are coming much earlier in his presidency than during his previous four years in the White House, when he prioritised tax cuts and deregulation.

Trump has alternately said he sees import taxes as tools to force concessions on issues such as immigration, but also as a source of revenue to help close the government’s budget deficit.

Financial markets fell on Friday after Trump first said he would impose the reciprocal tariffs.

Stock prices also dropped after a measure of consumer sentiment declined on Friday, largely because many respondents cited tariffs as a growing worry.

The survey also found that Americans are expecting inflation to tick up in the coming months because of the duties.

Trump on Sunday did not offer any details about the steel and aluminium duties, or the reciprocal tariffs.

Trump previously threatened 25 per cent import taxes on all goods from Canada and Mexico, though he paused them for 30 days barely a week ago.

At the same time, he proceeded to add 10 per cent duties on imports from China.

Yet on Friday, he said he would also delay the tariffs on the millions of small packages ? often from fast-fashion firms such as Temu and Shein ? until customs officials can figure out ways to impose them.

The small packages have previously been exempt from tariffs.

with reuters