Investing.com-- U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday signed executive orders imposing 25% tariffs on all imports of steel and aluminum, while stating that no country would be exempt from the duties.
Trump said he is also looking into tariffs on cars, chips, and pharmaceuticals, and that he will announce plans for reciprocal tariffs over the next two days.
Reuters reported that the steel and aluminum tariffs will begin from March 4.
Trump’s new round of tariffs will cancel duty-free quotas for major U.S. steel suppliers such as Canada, Mexico, and Brazil, some of which were negotiated by Trump in his first term.
Trump also outlined plans to impose a new North American standard for metal imports- specifically that steel should be “melted and poured” and that aluminum should be “smelted and cast” in the region to diminish imports of Chinese metals.
The U.S. President had flagged plans for the new metal tariffs over the weekend, stating that they were largely aimed at bolstering local metal production and reducing U.S. reliance on imports.
The U.S. imports millions of tons of steel and aluminum annually, given that the two play key roles in everything ranging from construction to automobiles.
Trump’s tariffs in 2018 spurred only a short-lived rebound in domestic steel production, as consumers still needed to import foreign steel to meet demand.
Trump said he was not too concerned over retaliatory tariffs. Last week, China had imposed retaliatory trade measures over Trump’s 10% tariffs against the country, and had also launched an antitrust probe into Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL).
Investors are concerned that Trump’s tariff agenda will spark a renewed global trade war. His tariffs- which will be borne by American importers- also stand to potentially shore up inflation in the coming months.