US President Donald Trump announced last week that he would set tariffs on steel and aluminum imported into the United States at 50%, double their current rate. In Trump’s announcement post on Truth Social, he said that the doubled tariffs would come into effect on Wednesday, June 4.
Even as U.S. courts question the legitimacy of President Trump’s tariffs, the president is showing no signs of backing off his favorite trade tool. On Wednesday, the tariffs that Mr. Trump imposed on foreign steel and aluminum are set to double to 50 percent, a move that he has said will better protect domestic metal makers.
In his remarks on US steel deal Trump said he had a “major announcement.” “We are going to be imposing a 25% increase,” Trump said. “We’re going to bring it from 25% to 50%, the tariffs on steel into the United States of America, which will even further secure the steel industry in the United States. Nobody’s going to get around that.”
Trump said he was considering a 40% tariff, but industry executives told him they wanted a 50% tariff.
“I said to them: Would you rather have a 40% increase or a 50%,” with the answer being 50%, Trump noted.
He later posted on social media that the higher tariff rate would take effect on Wednesday, June 4th.
“It is my great honor to raise the tariffs on steel and aluminum from 25% to 50%, effective Wednesday, June 4th. Our steel and aluminum industries are coming back like never before. This will be yet another BIG jolt of great news for our wonderful steel and aluminum workers. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,” wrote on his Truth Social platform.
A US federal court ruled recently that the worldwide and retaliatory tariff orders exceed any authority granted to the president Donald Trump by IEEPA to regulate importation by means of tariffs. The Court of International Trade ruled that the trafficking tariffs fail because they do not deal with the threats set forth in those orders.
A three-judge panel ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 law that Trump cited to justify the tariffs, does not give him the power to impose unlimited tariffs.
The court ruling could pose a major threat to President Donald Trump’s tariff agenda.
Trump did not respond well to the court ruling, saying that this type of ruling could weaken US trade leverage and cause “economic ruination” by allowing other countries to exploit the American economy.
“If the Courts somehow rule against us on tariffs, which is not expected, that would allow other countries to hold our nation hostage with their anti-American tariffs that they would use against us. This would mean the economic ruination of the United States of America,” Trump said yesterday.
The U.S. Court of Appeals temporarily paused the court’s decision that had blocked most of President Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
“The U.S. Court of International Trade incredibly ruled against the United States of America on desperately needed tariffs but, fortunately, the full 11 judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Court has just stayed the order by the Manhattan-based Court of International Trade,” Trump said in a statement.
Meanwhile, tensions with China flared again as Trump accused Beijing of violating a tariff agreement reached last month in Switzerland.
“Two weeks ago, China was in grave economic danger. The very high tariffs I set made it virtually impossible for China to trade into the United States marketplace which is, by far, number one in the world. Many factories closed and there was, to put it mildly, “civil unrest.” I saw what was happening and didn’t like it, for them, not for us.
“I made a fast deal with China in order to save them from what I thought was going to be a very bad situation, and I didn’t want to see that happen. Because of this deal, everything quickly stabilized, and China got back to business as usual. Everybody was happy. That is the good news. The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, has totally violated its agreement with us,” he said.
