US Tariffs on Steel, Aluminum Take Effect

‘This is a big deal, the beginning of making America rich again,’ Trump said in February.

Shipping containers are organized at the Houston Port of Authority in Houston, Texas, on Feb. 10, 2025. Brandon Bell/Getty Images

President Donald Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports went into effect shortly after midnight on March 12.

In addition to imposing levies on steel and aluminum from all U.S. trading partners, the White House restored and expanded Section 232 tariffs by eliminating hundreds of agreed-upon exemptions and exclusions approved by former President Joe Biden or during Trump’s first term.

The President announced last month that he was introducing new standards that mandate steel be “melted and poured” and aluminum be “smelted and cast” in North America to prevent nations like China from circumventing trade restrictions.

The purpose, Trump says, is to stop countries from taking advantage of the United States, to bolster domestic production, and to return jobs to the U.S. economy.

“This is a big deal, the beginning of making America rich again,” Trump told reporters at the Oval Office on Feb. 10.

“Our nation requires steel and aluminum to be made in America, not in foreign lands.”

The United States relies more on aluminum imports than on steel. Commerce Department data suggest that the United States produces most of its steel, while it imports approximately a quarter of the metal. However, the United States produces just a little more than half of the country’s aluminum and imports 44 percent.

Still, foreign markets are poised to be adversely affected by the tariffs.

In 2024, Canada was the top country from which the United States imported steel: a total of about 6 million tons. This was followed by Brazil (4.1 million), Mexico (3.2 million), and South Korea (2.5 million).

Last year, Canada accounted for more than 50 percent of aluminum shipped to the U.S. economy.

President Trump rocked financial markets on March 10 when he announced on Truth Social that he would raise tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel imports to 50 percent.

The threat came after Ontario Premier Doug Ford slapped a 25 percent surcharge on electricity exports to some U.S. states and threatened to cut off their electricity.

Following a “productive conversation about the economic relationship” between the North American neighbors with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Ford confirmed that he would suspend the 25 percent tax.

When reporters asked if he would drop the doubling of levies, Trump responded, “Probably so, yeah. He was a gentleman.”

“As you know, there’s a very strong man in Canada who said he was going to charge a surcharge or tariff on electricity coming into our country,” the President told the press. “He has called and said he’s not going to do that. ... And it would have been a very bad thing if he did. And he’s not going to do that. So I respect that.”

Industry Responds to Tariffs

Five steel industry associations penned a joint letter to President Trump on Monday, lauding his actions to remove the exclusion process and restore 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum.

The American Iron and Steel Institute, Steel Manufacturers Association, Specialty Steel Industry of North America, American Institute of Steel Construction, and the U.S. OCTG Manufacturers Association stated that the exclusion process was a loophole that had been exploited by foreign producers to avoid levies.

Additionally, they noted that the steel tariffs first imposed by Trump in 2018 allowed the industry to rehire terminated workers, restart idled plants, and invest billions in new and upgraded facilities.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford holds a news conference in Toronto, Canada, on March 4, 2025. Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP

“Over the subsequent years many country-wide and product-specific exemptions to the tariffs were granted, eroding the effectiveness of the steel Section 232 measures,” the letter, shared with The Epoch Times, stated.

“The degradation of the Section 232 tariffs and out-of-control global excess steel production led to increases in steel imports and imports of downstream derivative products, once again threatening the viability of domestic steel producers and U.S. national security.”

Philip K. Bell, the president of the Steel Manufacturers Association, applauded the tariffs.

“President Trump understands that America’s steel industry is the backbone of our economy,” he said in a statement last month. “A thriving domestic steel industry is critical to U.S. national, energy and economic security.”

The United Steelworkers (USW) International leadership offered mixed feedback to these tariffs. While the group supports Trump’s efforts to halt global overcapacity, it disapproves of targeting “trusted trade partners, like Canada.”

“Our union welcomes President Donald Trump’s efforts to contain the global overcapacity that has for too long enabled bad actors like China to flood the global market with its unfairly traded products, resulting in surging imports into the United States, especially from Mexico,” said David McCall, USW International president, in a statement.

What the Experts Say

Experts presented mixed views on the administration’s steel and aluminum tariffs.

According to The Tax Foundation, President Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico would trim the long-run GDP by 0.2 percent, reduce after-tax incomes by an average of 0.6 percent (without retaliatory tariffs), and decrease hours worked by 223,000 full-time equivalent jobs.

“We estimate the 2018-2019 trade war tariffs imposed by Trump and retained by Biden reduce long-run GDP by 0.2 percent, the capital stock by 0.1 percent, and employment by 142,000 full-time equivalent jobs,” the group said in a report.

However, according to a study shared by the White House in a Feb. 2025 fact sheet, the first Trump administration’s tariffs “strengthened the U.S. economy” and “led to significant reshoring” in manufacturing and steel production.

ING economists note that even if tariffs revitalized the industry, U.S. capacity utilization for aluminum and steel would need to increase by 10 percentage points to accomplish the Trump administration’s goal of 80 percent.

“In 2024, the output of the U.S. steel industry was 1 percent lower than it had been in 2017 before the introduction of the first round of tariffs by Trump, while the aluminum industry produced almost 10 percent less,” they said in a Feb. 11 note.

The inflationary effects of the tariffs have been subject to debate.

Brian Sponheimer, a portfolio manager at the Gabelli Dividend & Income Trust, thinks it is unlikely that consumers will bear much of the tariff-related costs.

“Aluminum is likely to be more immediately impactful given that the U.S. imports about half of its consumed steel,” Sponheimer said in a note emailed to The Epoch Times. “Clearly any additional tariffs will likely lead to a friction period where purchasing patterns change, with some costs passed along but some very likely to end up eaten by margin.”

Analysts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies concluded in a report last month that levies “will raise prices, cost American jobs, and strain alliances.”

Instead, the United States should collaborate with trading partners to stop China, they said.

“The real solution lies in working with partners to shut down avenues for China’s dumping and create a level playing field in global trade,” they said.