BBC:
President Donald Trump has announced the US will double its current tariff rate on steel and aluminium imports from 25% to 50%, starting on Wednesday.
Speaking at a rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Trump said the move would help boost the local steel industry and national supply, while decreasing reliance on China.
Trump also said that $14bn would be invested into the area’s steel production through a partnership between US Steel and Japan’s Nippon Steel. Details on the partnership are still unclear and both companies have yet to confirm a deal.
The announcement is the latest turn in Trump’s rollercoaster approach to tariffs since re-entering office in January.
“There will be no layoffs and no outsourcing whatsoever, and every US steelworker will soon receive a well deserved $5,000 bonus,” Trump told the crowd, filled with steelworkers, to raucous applause.
One of the major concerns from steelworkers about the US-Japan trade deal was how Japan would honour workers’ union contract which regulates pay and hiring.
Trump began his remarks by saying he “saved” US Steel, America’s biggest steel manufacturer, located in Pittsburgh, with the 25% steel tariffs he implemented during his first term as president in 2018.
He touted the increase to 50% as a way to ensure US Steel’s survival.
“At 50%, they can no longer get over the fence,” he said. “We are once again going to put Pennsylvania steel into the backbone of America, like never before.”
The announcement comes amid a court battle over the legality of some of Trump’s global tariffs,which an appeals court has allowed to continue after the Court of International Trade had ordered the administration to halt the taxes.
His tariffs on steel and aluminium were untouched by the lawsuit.
