[CTC] Trump formalizes tariff hikes on steel and aluminum imports

[Arthur Stamoulis]

*Note the exemption for the UK (which is further along on a trade deal with
the Trump administration than most countries)...*

*Trump formalizes tariff hikes on steel and aluminum imports*

By Ari Hawkins, PoliticoPro

6/3/25



President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday making good on
his promise to double tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to 50 percent,
as part of a bid to better protect the domestic steel sector from countries
like China.



The new executive order builds off the 25 percent tariff on steel and the
10 percent tariff on aluminum Trump imposed during his first term under
Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, according to the text of
the executive order
<https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/06/adjusting-imports-of-aluminum-and-steel-into-the-united-states/>.
The new tariff affects all countries, except the United Kingdom, and
officially goes into force Wednesday at midnight.



“The increased tariffs will more effectively counter foreign countries that
continue to offload low-priced, excess steel and aluminum in the United
States market and thereby undercut the competitiveness of the United States
steel and aluminum industries,” Trump’s executive order reads.



*British exception: *The U.K. tariff will remain at 25 percent with
“possible changes or quotas” to be applied after July 9, White House
spokesperson Kush Desai confirmed in a statement to POLITICO. That is also
the date that Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs on all countries is
slated to go back into force unless deals are reached.



Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government signed a framework for a new trade
deal with the Trump administration last month to ease tariffs on British
autos, steel and aluminum.



British firms are still waiting for guidance on tariff reductions the two
countries agreed to, and fear it could take weeks or longer until the
tariffs are actually removed.



*Context:* Trump first made the announcement during a speech Friday at a
U.S. Steel facility
<https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025/05/trump-says-doubling-steel-tariff-to-50-percent-00378480>
in
West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, and later that day took to Truth Social to say:
<https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114599330494282325> “This
will be yet another BIG jolt of great news for our wonderful steel and
aluminum workers.”



The White House has long railed against countries like China, which they
claim unfairly subsidize their steel industry and harm the domestic sector.



The tariff hike has long been requested by the domestic steel sector, and
comes after months of meetings between steel producers and makers and White
House officials
<https://subscriber.politicopro.com/newsletter/2025/03/us-steelmakers-take-to-the-white-house-00237832>.
The sector pushed for higher tariffs, and have asked to expand curbs
imposed under Section 232 to also cover derivative or downstream products
made with metals.



Seduction 232 power grants a president wide authority to raise tariffs on
imported products deemed a threat to national security. The Trump
administration previously used that security power and the 2018
investigation in March as justification to raise tariffs on aluminum to 25
percent, and to eliminate certain exemptions for both steel and aluminum.
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