(AFP) – US President Donald Trump signed executive orders to impose 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from March 12, ramping up a long-promised trade war despite warnings from Europe and China. The European Union swiftly vowed to retaliate with “firm and proportionate countermeasures.”
In an executive order released Monday, Trump said: “As of March 12, 2025, all imports of aluminum articles and derivative aluminum articles from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Mexico, EU countries, and the UK shall be subject to the additional ad valorem tariff.” He issued a separate order for steel, which said it would apply to all imports from the same countries the aluminum tariffs hit, as well as to Brazil, Japan, and South Korea.
“I’m simplifying our tariffs on steel and aluminum,” Trump said earlier in the Oval Office. “It’s 25 percent without exceptions or exemptions.” The tariffs also appear to indirectly target China, with the executive orders detailing how certain countries — particularly Mexico — were “using” their exemptions to get Chinese imports into the United States. “Chinese producers are using Mexico’s general exclusion from the tariff to funnel Chinese aluminum to the United States through Mexico,” it said. Mexico’s increased volume of steel imports from China also “support a conclusion that there is transshipment or further processing of steel mill articles… from countries seeking to evade quantitative restrictions.”
Canada, Mexico, and Brazil are among the biggest steel importers to the United States, followed by South Korea. South Korea’s acting President Choi Sang-mok vowed Tuesday to protect domestic firms’ interests and reduce uncertainties “by building a close relationship with the Trump administration and expanding diplomatic options.” Trump had also signaled he would look at imposing additional tariffs on automobiles, pharmaceuticals, and computer chips, and promised an announcement on Tuesday or Wednesday on broader “reciprocal tariffs” to match the levies other governments charge on US products.
During his 2017-2021 presidency, he had imposed sweeping tariffs as he believed US industries faced unfair competition from Asian and European countries.
– ‘Misguided path’ – Canadian steelmakers warned of “massive” disruption, while the European Commission said it would “react to protect the interests of European businesses, workers, and consumers from unjustified measures.” EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday slammed Trump’s decision, vowing the bloc would retaliate. “Unjustified tariffs on the EU will not go unanswered — they will trigger firm and proportionate countermeasures,” she said in a statement.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the bloc will provide a united front to Washington, though “I hope that we are spared the misguided path of tariffs and counter-tariffs.” French President Emmanuel Macron vowed in an interview aired Sunday to go head-to-head with Trump over his wider tariff threats against the European Union, though he also said the United States should focus its efforts on China. Around 25 percent of European steel exports go to the United States, according to consultancy Roland Berger.
Britain’s steel industry body called the tariff plan a “devastating blow.” Trump has already shown his fondness for weaponizing the United States’ power as the world’s largest economy, ordering tariffs on key trade partners China, Mexico, and Canada soon after he took office. He paused 25 percent levies against Canada and Mexico for a month after both countries vowed to step up measures to counter flows of the drug fentanyl and the crossing of undocumented migrants into the United States.
– Economic ‘pain’ to come? – But Trump went ahead with tariffs on China, the world’s second-biggest economy, with products entering the United States facing an additional 10 percent levy. Chinese retaliatory tariffs targeting US coal and liquified natural gas came into play on Monday. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said “there is no winner in a trade war and tariff war.”
Trump also focused on steel during a visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba last week. The American leader said he had secured an agreement for Japan’s Nippon Steel to make a major investment in US Steel, instead of seeking to take over the troubled firm. Trump has insisted the impact of any tariffs would be borne by foreign exporters without being passed on to US consumers, despite most experts saying the contrary. But he did acknowledge this month that Americans might feel economic “pain” from the levies.
Wall Street’s main indices finished up Monday despite the tariff threat, though Asian and European markets were mixed by Tuesday.
burs-dk/dhc/sco – Danny KEMP
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