U.S. President Donald Trump walks as workers react at U.S. Steel Corporation–Irvin Works in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, U.S., May 30, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis
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LEAH MILLIS
US President Donald Trump has said he plans to double tariffs on imported steel and aluminium to 50 per cent– a move that will further disrupt global steel business and hit Indian exports worth over $7.5 billion “doubly hard”.
“We’re going to bring it from 25 per cent to 50 per cent — the tariffs on steel into the United States of America, which will even further secure the steel industry in the United States,” Trump said at a rally in Pennsylvania on Friday.
The 50 per cent tariffs will also be applicable on aluminium and would come into effect from Wednesday (June 4), he later posted on his social media platform `Truth Social’.
Value-added products
Indian exporters of steel and aluminium products are not only concerned about the raised tariffs further hitting their business in the US but also about the fate of the consignments already in transit, worth about $ 1 billion.
“The doubling of US tariffs on steel and aluminium will not only affect exports of primary steel but also value-added products including auto components. Exporters are highly concerned about the items that have been already shipped and are in transit, worth about $1 billion, because these will now be subject to double the import duty than what was accounted for,” pointed out Ajay Sahai, trade expert and Director General of exporters’ body FIEO.
The additional duties for the items in transit will also have to be largely borne by the exporters and 25 per cent duties was “huge money”, Sahai said, adding that exporters were now getting hit doubly hard.
“It’s unfortunate that while the India-US BTA (bilateral trade agreement) negotiations are going on such unilateral tariff increases should be done. It only makes the work of the negotiators much more complicated. It will definitely impact engineering exports of about $5 billion,” said Pankaj Chadha, Chairman, EEPC India. A trade team from Washington is scheduled to visit New Delhi next week. for BTA negotiations.
Trump’s latest announcement follows a US trade court pronouncement earlier this week that blocked his reciprocal tariffs (which were then temporarily re-instated by an appeals court) but did not touch sector-specific tariffs, including those on steel & aluminium and cars.
India’s complaint at WTO
India earlier filed a complaint at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) against the 25 per cent import duties on steel and aluminium imports by the Trump administration on March 12 and reserved its rights to retaliate. New Delhi said that despite Washington’s claims of national security considerations, the tariffs were safeguard measures imposed in violation of rules.
“The safeguard measures would affect $ 7.6 billion imports into the United States of the relevan tproducts originating in India, on which the duty collection would be $ 1.91 billion,” India’s WTO submission noted. New Delhi proposed to suspend concessions on US goods of equivalent amount of duty at a later time.
“With Trump now doubling the tariffs, it remains to be seen whether India will carry out the retaliation, by increasing tariffs on certain US exports within a month,” said Ajay Srivastava of GTRI.
Several countries have started reacting to Trump’s announcement of doubling of duties. Australia said the increase in tariffs was unjustified and not the act of a friend. “They are an act of economic self-harm that will only hurt consumers and businesses who rely on free and fair trade,” Trade Minister Don Farrell said in a statement.
Canada’s Chamber of Commerce said the tariff hike was “antithetical” to North American economic security. “Unwinding the efficient, competitive and reliable cross-border supply chains like we have in steel and aluminum comes at a great cost to both countries,” Candace Laing, President of the chamber, said in a statement.
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Published on May 31, 2025
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