Trump hits Aussie steel, aluminium with 25 per cent tariff

Donald Trump has announced sweeping new 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, and Australia is not exempted.

Australia’s steel and aluminum exports to the US are set to be hit, after US President Donald Trump announced 25 per cent tariffs on all imports into the US.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One as he headed to New Orleans for the Super Bowl, the US President said the tariffs would apply to the metal imports from all countries.

However he did not say when the levy would take effect.

Mr Trump confirmed he would announce the tariffs while flying to the game.

A reporter asked: “What countries will those go on?”

“Everybody,” he said.

“Steel. Any steel coming into the United States is going to have a 25 per cent tariff.”

When asked about aluminum, Mr Trump replied: “Aluminum too … 25 per cent.”

During the first Trump administration, Australia was one of several trade partners, including Canada, Mexico, the EU and the UK, who were exempt from US tariffs on steel and aluminum exports, at 25 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively.

A tariff is a tax placed on imports and it means Australian steel and aluminium exports to the US will become more expensive for buyers and so likely reduce demand for them.

Steep tariffs can effectively cripple exports and if the duties are imposed, Australian industry will be heavily impacted.

The US imported about $638m worth of Australian steel in 2024, the UN’s COMTRADE database shows.

Major ASX-listed companies like Rio Tinto and BlueScope Steel will be exposed to the tariffs and the benchmark ASX200 lost more than 0.5 per cent at the opening bell.

US President Donald Trump speaks to the press aboard Air Force One. Picture: AFP

In a statement release don Monday, BlueScope, said: “We are aware of media reports this morning that President Trump has said he will announce tariffs on steel and aluminium imported to the US,” a BlueScope spokesman said.

“BlueScope has been investing in the United States for 30 years. Most recently, we have spent $2 billion on acquisitions and brownfields expansion of our operations there. BlueScope is now the fifth largest steel producer in the US, employing 4,000 American workers.

“BlueScope abides by all trade rules and agreements. We will continue to work with the Trump administration and the Australian Government, as we await further details. We have no further comment to make at this stage.”

Economist Stephen Innes said Asian markets were scrambling for their “trade war helmets” on Monday morning.

“Trump’s latest move isn’t merely another trade skirmish. It’s an escalation of his ‘America First’ trade doctrine where ‘no country is off limits’,” he said.

“This high-stakes gamble could disrupt global supply chains.”

Mr Trump has repeatedly expressed his approval of tariffs, wielding them as a means to get other countries to make policy changes in line with his priorities.

In his first weeks in office, the US leader slapped tariffs on China and ordered them on Mexico and Canada.

He paused the measures 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.

The tariffs on China drew retaliatory measures from Beijing, with 15-percent duties imposed on US coal and liquefied natural gas and 10-percent levies on crude oil, machinery, pickup trucks and vehicles such as sports cars with large-displacement engines.

He has also pledged tariffs on the European Union and said that he would soon announce unspecified “reciprocal tariffs.”

He has also promised tariffs on semiconductors, oil and gas.

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WORLD LEADERS REACT TO TRUMP TARIFFS

French President Emmanuel Macron vowed in an interview aired Sunday to go head-to-head with Trump over his financial threats to Europe, though he said that the United States should focus its efforts on China rather than the European Union.

Macron also warned on CNN that Americans would feel the effects of any tariffs on Europe, saying they “will increase the costs and create inflation in the US.”

“It means if you put tariffs on a lot of sectors, it will increase the costs and create inflation in the US. Is it what your people want? I’m not so sure,” he said.

According to NPR, Europe’s ‘far right’ leaders welcomed Trump’s stance on tariffs.

At an event organised by Spain’s Vox party in Madrid, which was attended by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Italy’s Deputy Premier Matteo Salvini and French National Rally party leader Marine Le Pen, the leaders ‘downplayed’ the US President’s tariff hike on European imports.

“We are the only ones that can talk with the new Trump administration,” Le Pen told NPR.

MUSK WILL UNCOVER BILLIONS IN GOVERNMENT ‘FRAUD’: TRUMP

Donald Trump said that Elon Musk, who is presiding over a purge of US government jobs, will help find “hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud” in federal agencies.

Speaking in a Fox News interview that aired before the Super Bowl football championship, the US president said the American people “want me to find” waste and that Musk, the world’s richest man and the leader of the President’s cost-cutting efforts, has been “a great help” in rooting out unnecessary spending.

“We’re going to find billions, hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud and abuse. And, you know, the people elected me on that,” Mr Trump told Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier.

“He’s not gaining anything,” Mr Trump said, adding that he is going to tell Mr Musk to check the Department of Education “soon” and then do “the same thing” to the US military.

“We’re going to find billions, hundreds of billions, of dollars of fraud and abuse,” Mr Trump adds.

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KREMLIN SPEAKS ON ALLEGED TRUMP-PUTIN CALL

The Kremlin declined to confirm or deny a New York Post report of a phone call between Mr Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Washington and Moscow have not officially confirmed any communication between the leaders since Trump took office on a pledge to swiftly end fighting in Ukraine.

The New York Post reported on the weekend that Mr Trump told the publication he had spoken on the phone to Mr Putin to discuss bringing an end to the conflict in Ukraine and the Russian told him he “wants to see people stop dying”.

Donald Trump told US media he had spoken to Russian leader, Vladimir Putin. Picture: AFP

The New York Post quoted Mr Trump as saying he had “better not say” how often the leaders have spoken.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in comments to TASS state news agency said he could not confirm or deny a conversation took place, but suggested he was unaware of any such call.

“What can I say about this news item? As the administration in Washington expands its work, many different communications arise. And these communications are held through various channels,” the spokesman said.

Donald Trump said he spoke to Vladimir Putin about ending the war in Ukraine. Picture: AFP

“And of course, given these multiple communications, I personally cannot know something, not be aware of something. Therefore in this case I can’t either confirm or deny this.”

Mr Peskov previously several times denied reports of conversations between Mr Trump and Mr Putin before the US leader’s return to the presidency.

The Kremlin has said it is awaiting “signals” on a possible meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Putin and that no-one in Mr Trump’s new administration has been in touch about setting one up.

– with Agence France-Presse (AFP)