United States (US) President Donald Trump has significantly raised tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, eliminating exemptions and duty-free quotas for major suppliers Canada, Mexico, Brazil and other countries. It is a move that could increase the risk of a trade war on multiple fronts.
Trump signed a proclamation raising tariffs on aluminum imports to 25 percent from the 2018 percent he imposed in 25 to protect domestic producers. The decision reimposes XNUMX percent tariffs on millions of tons of imported steel and aluminum that had previously entered the U.S. duty-free under quota agreements and other exemptions.
Trump imposed tariffs of 25 percent on steel and XNUMX percent on aluminum during his first term, but later granted duty-free quotas for several trading partners, including Canada, Mexico and Brazil.
Former US President Joseph Biden extended these quotas to the UK, Japan and the European Union, and capacity utilization at US steel mills has declined in recent years.
Trump will also impose a new North American standard that requires imported steel to be "melted and poured" and aluminum to be "melted and cast" in the region, in order to reduce imports of minimally processed Chinese steel into the US.
Trump announced on Friday that he would impose reciprocal tariffs - raising U.S. tariffs to match those of trading partners - on a number of countries this week. He did not identify the countries, but the duties would be imposed "so that we are treated equally with other countries."
Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro said the measures would help American steel and aluminum producers, and strengthen America's economic and national security.
This decision, although indirectly, is mostly aimed at curbing the influence of Chinese steel on the American market.
The US directly imports very little steel from China, the world's largest steel producer. However, Chinese steel does enter the US market via other countries or through mislabeling of products.
The main US suppliers of steel are Canada, Brazil and Mexico.
Steel and aluminum are key materials for a wide range of products, from cars and home appliances to large infrastructure projects such as bridges, oil platforms, roads and skyscrapers.
Tariffs could increase the prices of those products due to higher costs of imported and domestic steel, and aluminum producers could also raise prices due to less competition.
When tariffs were introduced in 2018, domestic steel production temporarily increased, while imports declined.
However, the reduction in imports has not sustained the growth of domestic production in the long term. During the 2020 pandemic, demand for steel fell sharply, and production has not yet returned to the level of 2017, before the introduction of tariffs.
The Trump administration now wants to close "loopholes" in the system that allowed customs duties to be circumvented.
Some countries imported semi-finished steel products, processed them minimally, and then exported them to the US as finished products to avoid additional costs.
Trump recently imposed additional tariffs of 10 percent on all Chinese products, while China retaliated with its own tariffs on certain American products.
Trump is bringing back plastic straws
Trump also signed an executive order encouraging US authorities and consumers to buy plastic straws, reports the Beta agency.
He also signed an order that eases the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to prevent bribery of American officials in other countries, calling the law a "disaster" for US business interests abroad.
"We are being hit by both friends and enemies," Trump said last night as he signed two orders reversing his first-term orders, which he said would take effect on March 4.
"It's time to bring our great industries back to America," Trump said as he signed the orders.
These moves are part of Trump's aggressive push to reset global trade.
He said that raising tariffs on individuals and companies that buy products made abroad will ultimately boost domestic manufacturing.
The tariffs will hit the four largest suppliers - Canada, Brazil, Mexico and South Korea - which account for the bulk of steel imports to the US, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.
Trump has already imposed 10 percent tariffs on China, and retaliatory Chinese tariffs began to be applied on Monday.
He plans to reimpose US tariffs on all imports this week, to match the tariffs charged by other countries.
Trump believes that the introduction of tariffs will level the playing field in international trade and that it makes American factories more competitive, so that the hardships that consumers and companies will experience will ultimately pay off.
The US president reiterated that additional tariffs would be imposed on computer chips, cars and pharmaceuticals, but stressed that import duties would ultimately allow more steel and aluminum plants in the US to open up to avoid the tariffs.
"Eventually there will be a reduction in prices because the steel will be made here," Trump said, adding that there will also be more jobs.
He said he was banning the use of paper straws, stating that they don't last long, and that he wanted to see the use of plastic straws restored across the country.
"It's a ridiculous situation, we're going back to plastic straws," Trump said as he signed an executive order reversing a decision encouraging the purchase of paper straws and restricting the use of plastic ones.
The order directs federal agencies to stop purchasing paper straws and to ensure that they are no longer brought into government buildings.
This is directed against the policies and decisions of his predecessor, Joseph Biden, to gradually phase out the use of single-use plastics.
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