President Donald Trump announced Friday that he will be doubling tariffs on imported steel.
Trump said during a visit to a Pittsburgh-area steel mill that he would increase the tariff to 50%, upping the levy to protect steelworker jobs in the U.S.
“We are going to be imposing a 25% increase,” Trump said from the U.S. Steel facility in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. “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.”
In February, Trump announced 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, aimed, he said, at bringing more production of the raw metals back to the United States.
“We don’t want America’s future to be built with shoddy steel from Shanghai, we want it built with the strength and the pride of Pittsburgh,” Trump said.
He made the visit to Pittsburgh to tout a deal in which Japan’s Nippon Steel is acquiring U.S. Steel for $14 billion.
Trump initially said he would block the Japanese steelmaker’s bid to buy Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel but changed course and announced an agreement last week for what he described as “partial ownership” by Nippon.
