Trump says he will double steel, aluminium tariffs to 50 per cent

US President Donald Trump says he will double US tariffs on steel and aluminium imports to 50 per cent in a move that would affect about $1 billion worth of Australian metal exports.

Trump made the commitment during a visit to the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, headquarters of US Steel, where he also discussed a proposed deal under which Japan’s Nippon Steel would invest in the iconic American steelmaker.

US President Donald Trump speaks at US Steel Corporation’s Mon Valley Works-Irvin plant on Friday.Credit: AP

The move would “even further secure the steel industry in the United States”, Trump said to applause from the steelworkers in hard hats and fluoro vests stationed behind him.

“Nobody’s going to get around that … Nobody’s going to be able to steal your industry.

“At 25 per cent they can sort of get over that fence. At 50 per cent they can no longer get over the fence.”

In a post later on his Truth Social platform, Trump added that aluminium tariffs would also be doubled to 50 per cent. He said both tariff hikes would go into effect on Wednesday.

“Our steel and aluminum industries are coming back like never before,” Trump said in the post.

On Saturday, Trade Minister Don Farrell said the tariffs were “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,” Farrell said.

Australia exported $640 million worth of steel and $440 million of aluminium last year to the US. The cumulative $1 billion trade is a small amount compared to the nation’s total exports of $660 billion in the past financial year.

Trade Minister Don Farrell says the US tariffs are “not the act of a friend”.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Opposition trade spokesman Kevin Hogan said the latest move was concerning for Australian jobs.

“The Albanese government needs to double its efforts to protect our steel industry and local jobs for our steel workers,” he said in a statement on Saturday.

“This is why it is imperative that the Australian prime minister personally meets with President Trump ... to develop a personal rapport with the United States president and protect Australian industries.”

The steel and aluminium tariffs were enacted under trade laws rather than emergency powers, and were not among those struck down by the decision of the Court of International Trade this week.

Workers listen to Trump as he announced a plan to double tariffs on steel imports.Credit: AP

Those tariffs – which include a 10 per cent levy on Australian goods – will remain in place after a federal appeals court agreed to temporarily preserve them while the government pursues an appeal. The matter is almost certain to be decided by the Supreme Court.

In February, Trump told Prime Minister Anthony Albanese he would consider giving Australia an exemption to the tariffs on steel and aluminium. Australia received a carve out during the first Trump administration.

But the US president decided against giving any exemptions this time.

Earlier on Friday, Trump also registered his frustration with China – which he accused of reneging on a tariff truce negotiated earlier this month – raising the prospect of additional import taxes.

“China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US. So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

Australia exported $640 million worth of steel to the United States last year.Credit: Louie Douvis

Steel prices in the US have climbed 16 per cent since Trump became president in mid-January, according to the government’s Producer Price Index, and such a dramatic increase in steel tariffs could push prices even higher.

In March 2025, steel cost $US984 ($1535) a metric tonne in the US, significantly more than the price in Europe ($1076) or China ($611), according to the US Commerce Department. The US 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.

While Trump initially vowed to block the Japanese steelmaker’s bid to buy US Steel, he reversed course and announced an agreement last week for what he described as “partial ownership” by Nippon. It’s unclear, though, if the deal his administration helped broker has been finalised or how ownership would be structured.

Analysts have credited tariffs going back to Trump’s first term with helping strengthen the domestic steel industry, something that Nippon Steel wanted to capitalise on in its offer to buy US Steel.

The United Steelworkers union remained sceptical of Nippon’s planned investment.

Its president, David McCall, said in a statement that the union was most concerned “with the impact that this merger of US Steel into a foreign competitor will have on national security, our members and the communities where we live and work”.

Trump stressed the deal would maintain American control of the storied company, which is seen as both a political symbol and an important matter for the country’s supply chain, industries such as car manufacturing and national security.

Trump, who has been eager to strike deals and announce new investments in the US since retaking the White House, is also trying to satisfy voters, including blue-collar workers, who elected him as he called to protect American manufacturing.

US Steel has not publicly communicated any details of a revamped deal to investors. Nippon Steel issued a statement approving of the proposed “partnership” but also has not disclosed terms of the arrangement.

No matter the terms, the issue has outsized importance for Trump, who last year repeatedly said he would block the deal and foreign ownership of US Steel, as did former president Joe Biden.

Trump promised during the election campaign to make the revitalisation of American manufacturing a priority of his second term in office.

The fate of US Steel, once the world’s largest corporation, could become a political liability in the midterm elections for his Republican Party in the swing state of Pennsylvania and other battleground states dependent on industrial manufacturing.

Trump has said he wouldn’t approve the deal if US Steel did not remain under American control and keep its headquarters in Pittsburgh.

With AP

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