US President Donald Trump announced his intention to double tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from 25% to 50%, a move aimed at protecting the domestic metals industry, the Financial Times reported.
The announcement came during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, where Trump promoted a $15 billion partnership between Japan's Nippon Steel and US Steel, pledging to create a "tariff fence" to protect US metals production.
"We're going to raise the tariffs from 25% to 50% on steel imports into the United States, which will make the industry more secure," Trump told the crowd in West Mifflin. "At 25 percent, they can jump over the fence. At 50 percent, they can't."
Trump explained in a post on Truth Social that the new tariffs will take effect on June 4.
Since last March, the US president has been imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, as part of his first steps in a trade war against what he described as "foreign dumping," in an attempt to revive struggling industrial regions at home.
Pennsylvania is one of the crucial states that contributed to Trump's victory in the recent presidential election, after he competed with Joe Biden to woo working-class voters with pledges to protect industrial jobs.
The escalation of tariffs comes a week after Trump announced his support for Nippon Steel's agreement with US Steel, a position that contradicts his previous opposition during his presidential campaign to the deal between the Japanese company and the American producer.
Trump said that Nippon Steel had made a "tremendous commitment" to invest $14 billion in US Steel, including more than $2 billion to increase steel production in the Mon Valley region of Pennsylvania, and another $7 billion to modernize plants and build new facilities in Indiana, Minnesota, Alabama, and Arkansas.
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