In a move widely anticipated, US President Donald Trump has imposed a new 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports entering the United States. “This is a big deal, America will be rich again” Trump stated, according to reporters present at the signing of the relevant decree in the White House on Monday.
The international community is now waiting with bated breath to see how the European Union will respond. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had announced on Sunday that the EU is prepared and could react “within an hour” – in the form of countermeasures.
The new import duty primarily targets the United States’ direct neighbors, Mexico and Canada, as well as Brazil and indirectly, China. The first three countries are currently the main steel suppliers to the US.
Trump had previously imposed a similar tariff on China, which was continued by his successor, Joe Biden. Since then, official steel imports from China, the world’s largest steel producer, have all but ceased, although it is believed that the material may still be entering the US through alternative routes.