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Donald Trump plans to impose tariffs on 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, one of the biggest trade moves in his first term as president.
In March 2018, Trump put forward a 25% steel tariff on steel, a 10% tariff on aluminum in most countries, and made it on national security grounds before expanding it to the EU, Canada and Mexico.
Trump claimed at the time that they would reduce the trade deficit and promote domestic manufacturing.
U.S. imports of metals fell immediately. A total of about 6.4 billion euros of steel and aluminum exports were hit. Brussels spent three months responding, but then levyed on imports worth about €2.8 billion, which included about a third of steel and aluminum, a third of agricultural products and other thirds. One product.
The group has picked out iconic American products that are usually produced in Republican voting countries, such as bourbon, Harley Davidson motorcycles and jeans. According to the U.S. Distillation Spirit Commission, U.S. whiskey exports to the EU for the year have since been exported one-third, losing about $256 million.
However, tariffs on imports from the EU were exempted after U.S. manufacturers successfully believed that they needed to import certain metals and parts.
Automobile companies, including General Motors and Ford, have also been forced to lower their earnings forecasts or miss out on analyst expectations in 2018, as tariff uncertainty and rising raw material costs caused by steel tariffs on U.S. imports.
Although many U.S. automakers buy most of their steel locally, they are still hit as domestic steel producers take the opportunity to push up their prices. After the tariffs were imposed, the producers had relatively small outputs.
Trump later granted several trading partners, including Canada and Mexico, a no-duty exemption.
After Trump left the office, then-President Joe Biden partially lifted tariffs, with the United States, the European Union, Japan and the United Kingdom agreeing to a temporary truce, agreeing to the metal’s responsibility. The EU has frozen all measures.
The truce was due to a mistake on the EU side at the end of March, and the U.S. quota that replaced tariffs would expire at the end of the year.
Both Biden and Trump are trying to cut China’s imports. Last year, the Biden administration tripled tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum entering the United States.
Biden also tightened rules that allowed some Mexican steel imports to re-raising the 25% tariff into any steel in the country without melting and pouring into North America. Biden officials have regarded the move as an attempt to put Chinese steel outside the U.S. market.
The looming tariffs have been undetermined in the most exposed industries.
Shares of some European steel makers went bankrupt Monday morning after Trump announced the news. Arcelormittal generates about 13% of sales in the United States. The company sells high-value steel products in the United States, especially from its Canadian operations, which is a major supplier to the U.S. automotive industry. It also provides semi-produced steel products from Mexico to facilities in the United States.
However, the company’s chief financial officer insisted last week that any impact could be managed based on higher prices and higher costs in 2018.
The EU industry is also concerned about the influx of displaced imports from the United States. Brussels has introduced a quota system where imports on it pay 25% and must expire in June next year.
“Our biggest threat is cheap imports imported from China,” said an European steel industry executive. “If they can’t import from the United States, they may import more from Europe.”
The automotive industry could be hit again – the exemption could buffer the hit again. This time, the tariff threat comes as manufacturers are already working to move to electric vehicles and stricter emission standards, which makes it harder for them to absorb higher raw material costs.
Volvo Cars have warned that profitability this year is lower, citing uncertainty over Trump’s tariffs. “There will be taxes. . You will see some geopolitical and policy changes that will cause general unrest,” Swedish Group CEO Jim Rowan said last week.
