Trump Says Foreign Steel Import Tariffs Are About To Double

President Donald Trump announced at a rally Friday that he would double tariffs on foreign steel imports.

The president traveled to the Pittsburgh area for a rally and made remarks to discuss the administration’s new partnership with Japan’s Nippon Steel. While addressing steel workers, Trump said that tariffs on foreign steel imports will jump from 25% to 50%.

“We are going to be imposing a 25% increase,” Trump said. “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.”

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“So we’re bringing it up from 25%. We’re doubling it to 50%. And that’s a loophole,” Trump added.

In April, Trump announced his “Liberation Day,” rolling out reciprocal tariffs against a list of countries. While a baseline 10% tariff was applied across the board, some countries like China were hit with higher rates due to their own tariffs against the U.S.

Shortly after the announcement, Trump placed a 90-day pause on tariffs for all countries except China, which had issued retaliatory tariffs against the U.S.

On May 23, Trump announced a partnership between the Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel and the Japanese corporation Nippon Steel, saying the deal would create steel jobs in Pittsburgh. According to the president, the company will remain headquartered in Pittsburgh, with the Japanese investment expected to add at least 70,000 jobs to the U.S. economy.

Trump has faced pushback over his sweeping tariffs, with a handful of lawsuits filed shortly after his April announcement. On Wednesday, a three-judge panel from the New York-based Court of International Trade ruled that the president’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not “authorize any of the Worldwide, Retaliatory, or Trafficking Tariff Orders.”

According to Reuters, the Trump administration filed a notice of appeal the same day as the ruling. Trump later took to Truth Social to criticize the panel of judges and their decision.

“In other words, hundreds of politicians would sit around D.C. for weeks, and even months, trying to come to a conclusion as to what to charge other Countries that are treating us unfairly,” Trump wrote.

“If allowed to stand, this would completely destroy Presidential Power — The Presidency would never be the same! This decision is being hailed all over the World by every Country, other than the United States of America,” Trump added.