Trump says steel tariffs will double

President Trump said he would double tariffs on imported steel, a move he said would bolster domestic industry and protect US jobs. He announced his plans at a rally in Pittsburgh.

“We are going to be imposing a 25% increase,” Trump said. “We’re going to bring it from 25% to 50%, the tariffs on steel into the United States of America, which will even further secure the steel industry in the United States. Nobody’s going to get around that.”

Trump said he was considering a 40% tariff, but industry executives told him they wanted a 50% tariff. “At 25% they can sorta get over that fence,” Trump said. “At 50% nobody’s getting over that fence.”

Trump on March 12 imposed sweeping 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports, which were met with immediate retaliation from Canada and dismay from America’s auto industry. The European Union also lashed out and announced retaliatory tariffs that it ultimately rescinded.

Trump on Friday praised his tariffs for saving the US steel industry, claiming American steelmaking would have disappeared if he hadn’t acted to impose tariffs. He said all steel would have been foreign-made and factories would have closed.

The president made the visit to tout a deal in which Japan’s Nippon Steel invested $14 billion in the famous company rather than buying it outright, a prospect which was long a political controversy.

The precise terms of the deal are murky, but it’s been described in broad sweeps as a compromise that keeps the corporate entity with an American-majority board and a US government veto over decisions.

“This is an incredible deal for American steel workers, and it includes vital protections to ensure that all steel workers will keep their jobs and all facilities in the United States will remain open and thriving,” Trump said.

President Trump won the Nov. 5 election in part by carrying Pennsylvania and other swing states and promised to look out for the steel industry’s workers. He previously tightened his first-term 25% tariffs on steel imports — in February scrapping exceptions for top importers such as Canada, Mexico and Brazil.

Trump has aggressively used tariffs at the start of his second term with dual goals of protecting US manufacturing and re-balancing trade deficits.