President Trump announced on Thursday that his administration would impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports next week, a move that would fulfill a key campaign promise to protect the U.S. from what he has said are unfair trade practices.
In brief remarks at the White House, Trump said he would impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports, and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports.
He wasn’t more specific, but the Commerce Department last month gave Trump a range of options for imposing tariffs and quotas on steel and aluminum imports. One set of options was a 24 percent tariff on imports from all countries, and a 7.7 percent tariff for all aluminum imports.
Trump’s comment about 25 percent for steel and 10 percent for aluminum suggest he decided to hit all imports, instead of imposing a larger tariff on imports from select countries like China. The options were provided after an investigation under a section of U.S. trade law that allows tariffs or quotas on imports in order to protect U.S. national security.
“We’ll be signing it next week. And you’ll have protection for a long time in a while,” Trump told U.S. steel and aluminum executives during a meeting at the White House on Thursday. “You’ll have to regrow your industries, that’s all I’m asking.”
Trump has long complained that other countries cheat when it comes to trade, while the U.S. plays by the rules.
“People have no idea how badly our country has been treated by other countries,” Trump said.
The president said he did not blame other countries, such as China, for taking advantage of ways to make money off U.S. trade policies. Instead, he blamed American officials who either willingly or unwittingly allowed other countries to exploit the U.S.
“We’re bringing it back and we’re going to bring it back relatively rapidly,” Trump said of manufacturing industries that have been gutted by international trade deals. “Steel and aluminum will see a lot of good things happen.”
