President Donald Trump said Thursday he will unveil steep tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum products next week – a move that could have major repercussions for global trade.
Trump has decided to set tariffs of 25 percent for steel imports and 10 percent for aluminum. “We’ll be signing it next week,” Trump said at a meeting of industry officials, according to a pool report. “And you’ll have protection for a long time.”
It was not clear if the tariffs would exempt certain trading partners. Trump’s decision follows a pair of investigations by the Commerce Department that determined imports of steel and aluminum are eating away at domestic production capacity in those two sectors and pose a threat to U.S. national security interests.
Trump’s decision, which was hotly debated within the administration, on Capitol Hill and throughout the U.S. business community, has the potential to ignite a tit-for-tat trade confrontation with China, the European Union and other major players in world trade. U.S. industries aside from steel and aluminum, particularly agriculture, fear they could take a hit if Trump’s tariffs prompt trading partners to take retaliatory action.
