By The Trump administration raised tariffs on global steel and aluminum imports to 25% Wednesday as President Donald Trump and his administration dig in on trade policies that have rocked financial markets.
Allies of the U.S., such as the European Union, responded in kind with a hail of criticism and reciprocal tariffs. The EU announced retaliatory tariffs early Wednesday on $28 billion-worth of a wide range of U.S. goods imported to Europe such as boats, motorbikes and alcohol.
President Trump announced the tariffs last month and the White House said Wednesday that there would be no exceptions.
“President Trump has once again used the leverage of the American economy, which is the best and biggest in the world, to deliver a win for the American people,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement.
Calling the new U.S. tariffs “unjustified,” the European Commission said that the levies would kick in on April 1, with additional countermeasures introduced in mid-April.
Investors appeared unfazed as they sent U.S. stock futures higher in advance of the release of the latest Consumer Price Index report Wednesday, though major stock indexes remain sharply lower in recent weeks. The S&P 500 is down almost 9% from its February high, putting it in correction territory.
While President Trump has suggested he wants to negotiate a broader trade agreement with the U.K., Britain did not escape the taxes. U.K. business and trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds called the levies “disappointing,” but said his country was “focused on a pragmatic approach” and negotiating a broader deal.
President Trump during an executive order signing ceremony in the Oval Office on March 6.Al Drago / Bloomberg / Getty Images
The European reaction echoed that of Canada, another of America’s traditional close allies and trading partners, on which Trump had already imposed a 25% metals tax.
New tariffs were briefly expected to go even higher for Canada, the top U.S. export market. President Donald Trump said Tuesday they would jump to 50% in response to Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s threat to impose a 25% surcharge on electricity imports into the United States to match the initial U.S. hike.
A conversation between Ford and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, prevented this though, with Trump indicating a doubling of U.S. tariffs for Canada was no longer likely.
In a joint-statement with Lutnick posted on X, Ford said they would meet Thursday alongside the U.S. trade representative to discuss renewing the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade act.
In a Truth Social post Monday, Trump called Canada a longtime “tariff abuser,” going beyond his metals threats to say that “The United States is not going to be subsidizing Canada any longer,” and that “We don’t need your Cars, we don’t need your Lumber, we don’t your Energy, and very soon, you will find that out.”
Other long-time U.S. allies also failed to escape.
Australia, which had been hoping for the same exemption from steel and aluminum tariffs it received during the first Trump administration, said it would not retaliate.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the tariff “entirely unjustified,” but added that imposing reciprocal tariffs “would only push up prices for Australian consumers,” and that Australia would impose no new tariffs on U.S. goods.
Perhaps the sharpest response came from China, the world’s largest steel producer and second-largest economy, which had already been slapped with a 20% blanket tariff on Trump’s return to office, and announced new tariffs in return.
Beijing’s foreign ministry accused the U.S. of violating World Trade Organization rules and said it would take “all necessary measures” to protect its rights and interests.
“No one wins in a trade war or a tariff war, a view widely shared by the international community,” spokesperson Mao Ning said at a media briefing.
