Donald Trump to announce new tariffs on steel and aluminium

US President Donald Trump says he will announce new 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports into the US, including from Australia, which would come on top of existing metals duties in another major escalation of his trade policy overhaul.

Mr Trump, speaking to reporters on Air Force One, also said he would announce reciprocal tariffs this week, to take effect almost immediately.

“Any steel coming into the United States is going to have a 25 per cent tariff,” he told reporters on Sunday on Air Force One as he flew from Florida to New Orleans to attend the Super Bowl.

“Aluminium, too.”

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A ‘slap in the face’: AI Group

Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said the tariffs would be a “slap in the face” for Australian industry given the long-standing free trade agreement with the US.

“This also reinforces that we cannot be sanguine about one of our most important trade and investment links. On trade, the president is simply doing what he said he would do,” he said.

“Pollyannaish hopes that we would fly under the radar have proven to be sadly misplaced.

“That this advice has been given the day after our deputy prime minister was in Washington to hand over billions of dollars to secure the AUKUS submarine deal is particularly troubling.”

Australia was exempt from previous tariffs

Currently, the US charges zero tax on imported aluminium, steel and iron from Australia.

According to United Nations Comtrade database, Australia exported $US237 million ($378 million) worth of steel and iron products to the US in 2023, and $US275 million worth of aluminium in 2024.

After imposing tariffs of 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent on aluminium during his first term in 2018, Mr Trump later granted several trading partners duty-free quotas, including Canada, Mexico and Brazil.

BlueScope, which operates from Port Kembla in New South Wales, was Australia’s sole exporter of steel to the US in 2018.

But, thanks to a deal between Australia and the White House, the company did not have to pay the tax on the 300,000 tonnes of steel it sent to its Californian subsidiary annually.

About half of BlueScope’s business is located in the US, with about 4,000 workers in the country.

BlueScope’s share price rose about 3 per cent on Mr Trump’s announcement.

Nationals leader David Littleproud described the comments as a “test” for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and ambassador Kevin Rudd.

“We just signed a check for over $500 million for AUKUS … we’re actually coming forward with the goods for the United States,” he said.

“This is a test to see whether Anthony Albanese’s previous remarks and Kevin Rudd’s previous remarks about President Trump have done this nation harm.”

Tariffs raise risks of trade war

Mr Trump’s comments came just after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the European Union was ready to respond “within an hour” if the US levied tariffs on European goods, highlighting the risks of an escalating trade war.

China’s retaliatory tariffs on some US exports are due to take effect on Monday, with no sign as yet of progress between Beijing and Washington.

A trade war could put upward pressure on US inflation and further limit room for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.

Former US president Joe Biden extended duty-free quotas to Britain, Japan and the European Union. US steel mill capacity utilisation has dropped in recent years.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the new tariffs would come on top of the existing duties on steel and aluminium.

Mr Trump on Friday announced he would impose reciprocal tariffs — raising US tariff rates to match those of trading partners — on many countries this week.

“If they are charging us 130 per cent and we’re charging them nothing, it’s not going to stay that way,” he told reporters on Air Force One.

He did not identify the countries, but said the duties would be imposed “so that we’re treated evenly with other countries”.

ABC/wires