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LAST UPDATE | 11 Feb
US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has signed executive orders to impose 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from 12 March, ramping up a long-promised trade war despite warnings from Europe and China.
“Today I’m simplifying our tariffs on steel and aluminium,” Trump said Monday in the Oval Office. ”It’s 25% without exceptions or exemptions.”
In an executive order released after, he said: “As of 12 March, 2025, all imports of aluminium articles and derivative aluminium articles from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Mexico, EU countries, and the UK shall be subject to the additional ad valorem tariff.”
Trump issued a separate order for steel, which said it would apply to all imports from the same countries the aluminium tariffs hit, as well as to Brazil, Japan and South Korea.
Canada and Mexico are the biggest steel importers to the United States, according to US trade data. Brazil and South Korea are also major steel providers.
Trump also signalled he would look at imposing additional tariffs on automobiles, pharmaceuticals and computer chips.
“President Trump has made it clear that an important part of an America First Golden Age is steel production,” National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told CNBC.
Trump also promised an announcement on Tuesday or Wednesday on broader “reciprocal tariffs” to match the levies other governments charge on US products.
During his 2017-2021 presidency, Trump had imposed sweeping tariffs as he believed US industries faced unfair competition from Asian and European countries.
Canadian steelmakers warned of “massive” disruption, while the European Commission said it would “react to protect the interests of European businesses, workers and consumers from unjustified measures.”
On Sunday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said there had been an “expectation” of tariffs for the EU, but added that there “will be engagement between the European Commission and the United States and President Trump”.
“It’s the largest economic relationship in the world, the one between the European Union and the United States. Ireland is a huge component part of that. We some very large companies in the United States creating a lot of jobs. Ryanair, for example,” Martin told RTÉ Radio.
Martin said tariffs would be particularly damaging to Ireland because of the economy’s dependence on exports.
“Tariffs would hurt us, because we’re a small, open economy that depends on exports.
“We export over 90 odd percent of what we produce. We’ve been of free trade. And if I meet President Trump, I will be saying these things, that I think free trade has created the largest era of rising prosperity in the world, actually.”
Martin added: “Prior to President Trump coming to office, President Biden would have introduced a lot of protectionist measures as well.
“So there’s been a growing trend in the last number of years towards protectionism, which Ireland feels will be damaging overall, in terms of our economic well-being.”
French President Emmanuel Macron vowed in an interview aired Sunday to go head-to-head with Trump over his wider tariff threats against the European Union, though he said the United States should focus its efforts on China.
German economy minister Robert Habeck said a tariff conflict “only has losers.”
Around 25% of European steel exports go to the United States, according to consultancy Roland Berger.
Britain’s steel industry body called the tariff plan a “devastating blow.”
Trump has already shown his fondness for weaponizing the United States’ power as the world’s largest economy, ordering tariffs on key trade partners China, Mexico and Canada soon after he took office.
He paused 25% levies against Canada and Mexico for a month after both countries vowed to step up measures to counter flows of the drug fentanyl and the crossing of undocumented migrants into the United States.
But Trump went ahead with tariffs on China, the world’s second-biggest economy, with products entering the United States facing an additional 10% levy.
Chinese retaliatory tariffs targeting US coal and liquified natural gas came into play Monday.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said “there is no winner in a trade war and tariff war.”
Trump also focused on steel during a visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba last week.
The American leader said he had secured an agreement for Japan’s Nippon Steel to make a major investment in US Steel, instead of seeking to take over the troubled firm.
Trump, who has promised a “new golden age” for the United States, insists the impact of any tariffs would be borne by foreign exporters without being passed on to US consumers, despite most experts saying the contrary.
But he did acknowledge this month that Americans might feel economic “pain” from the levies.
Wall Street’s main indices finished up Monday despite the tariff threat. London and Frankfurt set fresh records, while Asian markets were mixed Tuesday.
“The fact that global equity indices are higher at the start of the week could be a sign of tariff fatigue,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading group XTB.
The dollar also rose against the Canadian dollar, the Mexican peso and South Korean won on Monday.
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