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Friday's Final Word
US President Donald Trump has announced he will increase the tariff on steel imported into the United States from 25 per cent to 50 per cent.
Trump made the shock announcement during a speech to workers at a U.S. Steel owned plant in West Mifflin, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The increased tariffs will take effect on June 4. Trump later said on Truth Social that it will also apply to aluminium imported into the US.
‘We’re imposing a 25 per cent increase. We’re going to bring it to 50 per cent, the tariffs on steel into America, which will even further secure the steel industry in the United States,’ Trump told the crowd of workers.
The move is separate to a series of ‘Liberation Day tariffs’, which had been deemed illegal by a US court last week, but reinstated a day later.
Trade Minister Don Farrell said Australia has consistently opposed the tariffs and the new hike was ‘unjustified’ and ‘not the act of a friend’.
‘They are an act of economic self harm that will only hurt consumers and businesses who rely on free and fair trade. We will continue to engage and advocate strongly for the removal of the tariffs,’ he said.
Australia’s total steel exports were worth $1.76billion in 2024, while aluminium was worth $5.7billion. Of this, $370million worth of iron and steel, and $430million worth of aluminium went to the US, according to the United Nations Comtrade database.
US President Donald Trump announced he will increase the tariff on imported steel from 25 per cent to 50 per cent in a major blow to Australia’s export industry (pictured during the speech)
Trump made the announcement at a steel plant in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania (workers are pictured as they reacted to the announcement)
Trump also discussed a deal under which Japan´s Nippon Steel will invest in the American steel industry.
Trump had initially vowed to block the Japanese steelmaker´s bid to buy U.S. Steel, but reversed course and announced an agreement last week that he described as ‘partial ownership’ by Nippon.
It´s unclear, though, if the deal his administration helped broker has been finalized or how ownership would be structured.
‘We´re here today to celebrate a blockbuster agreement that will ensure this storied American company stays an American company,’ Trump said.
‘You´re going to stay an American company, you know that, right?’ he told workers.
Steel prices have climbed 16 per cent since Trump became president in mid-January, according to the US government’s Producer Price Index.
As of March 2025, steel cost $984 a metric ton in the United States, significantly more than the price in Europe at $690 or China at $392, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.
The United States produced about three times more steel than it imported last year, with Canada, Brazil, Mexico and South Korea being the largest sources of steel imports.
Analysts have credited tariffs going back to Trump´s first term with helping strengthen the domestic steel industry, something that Nippon Steel wanted to capitalize on in its offer to buy U.S. Steel.
