Donald Trump announces the duplication of steel tariffs to 50 percent

US President Donald Trump plans to double Zölle for the import of steel to the United States from currently 25 percent to 50 percent of the value of the goods. The additional fees for imports would strengthen the US steel industry, Trump said in a speech to employees of a steel business in the state of Pennsylvania. The Republican emphasized that “tariffs” were his absolute favorite word.

Trump explained a little later on his Truth platform, and the tariffs on aluminum should also be doubled to 50 percent. The new sentences should therefore apply from June 4th.

The previous taxes on the import of steel are formally justified by the US government-just like those on aluminum and cars-with the protection of national security.

The import of steel products into the USA is likely to be more difficult with the doubling of tariffs – and the price of steel in the USA should increase in the medium term. Steel is used by industry, for example in the production of cars, and construction.

The United States was in 2024 behind the EU world’s largest steel importer. According to the US government, the most important countries of origin are steel products introduced by Canada, Brazil and Mexico. Germany is therefore one of the ten largest exporters to the USA.

According to the German Industry Association of Stahl, the United States is the most important sales market for the European steel industry. Around four million tons were exported to the USA from the entire EU in 2023. From Germany alone, it is around one million tons every year, mostly special steel. Germany is therefore the largest steel producer in the EU.

The USA imports aluminum primarily from Canada, the United Arab Emirates, China and South Korea. Germany was only 16 of the most important countries of origin in 2024 – with a relatively small amount.

It was not immediately clear whether there should also be exceptions in the increased tariffs – for example for Canada and Mexico, with which the USA forms a North American free trade zone. There were no exceptions for the original tariffs of 25 percent from February.

Trump has already announced, threatened or already implemented numerous other tariffs. In addition to a new penalty tax of ten percent of the goods value to almost all imports, he has also announced specific, higher tariffs on imports of many countries. Large trading partners such as China and the European Union are also affected.

Various processes are currently underway for the legality of many tariffs in which no final decisions have yet been made. It is about the import taxes that refer to an emergency to reduce the US trade deficit. These are most of the tariffs enacted by Trump’s government – including the criminal levies that the Republican had announced on the “Day of Liberation” he described in early April, but also certain tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico and China.

A US court for international trade matters classified this tariff as illegal on Wednesday and ordered their quick reversal. A appellate court called by the government then allowed the tariffs to continue the tariff on Thursday, but has not yet decided on the matter. The additional levies on the import of steel are not affected by the legal dispute.

Trump has already made it clear that he wants to bring the dispute over the tariffs to the highest court if necessary, the Supreme Court in Washington. The President postponed the majority of the nine judges at the court during his first term with several ritles far to the right. But even the conservative judges do not always decide in his sense.

For Trump, the threat of new tariffs for certain trading partners are sometimes just a negotiation tactic in order to negotiate the best possible “deal”, i.e. to achieve concessions of the trading partners. Many of the trading partners he took with new tariffs, including the European Union, are already negotiating with the United States to avoid new tariffs. In the case of the EU, Trump recently suspended additional tariffs of 50 percent of the imports of goods by imports until the beginning of July in order to leave more time for negotiations.