Trade dispute Trump announces higher steel and aluminum tariffs for Canadians
US President Donald Trump wants to impose additional high tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada. This is in response to Canada raising the price of electricity exports to the USA by 25 percent.
11.03.2025, 16:23
11.03.2025, 16:24
SDA
He had instructed his Secretary of Commerce to impose tariffs of a further 25 percent on such imports from there, so that the total tariff would be 50 percent from Wednesday morning, Trump wrote on his news service Truth Social on Tuesday.
Donald Trump had introduced tariffs of 25 percent on steel and aluminum imports in February, which would generally apply to imports from all other countries. They are also expected to come into force on Wednesday. Trump argues that excessive steel and aluminum imports threaten US national security. He also accuses China of flooding the global market with cheap metal.
In the post on Truth Social, the US President complained about what he considers to be excessive tariffs imposed by Canada and described the neighboring country's spending on national security as too low. He reiterated his aim for Canada to become a federal state of the USA - a demand that has sparked fierce criticism and protests there for weeks.
According to the latest data, around a quarter of the steel used by industry in the USA is imported. The figure for aluminum is more than 40 percent. The figure is even higher for secondary aluminum, which comes from recycled material.
Economists expect that the higher import costs will increase the production costs of many American industrial companies. Customers would be threatened with price increases and the competitiveness of companies abroad would fall.
Steel and aluminum are actually covered by the North American free trade agreement USMCA. Last week, Trump granted a one-month tariff deferral for these goods after imposing blanket tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico. It remains to be seen whether this will now also apply to steel and aluminum from Canada and Mexico.
Since taking office, Trump has pursued a lurching course in his tariff policy. For example, he partially suspended tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico shortly after their introduction - and threatened new punitive measures at the same time.
