United States President Donald Trump announced that new tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the country will be revealed on Monday.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to the NFL Super Bowl on Sunday, Trump said that the tariffs from Monday will impose a 25 percent charge on all steel imports entering the United States, as well as a 25 percent tariff on aluminum imports.
In his statement, Trump addressed the rationale for these tariffs, saying, “Very simply, if you charge us, we charge them.” He further emphasized, “On steel and aluminum tariffs, I’m also going to be announcing steel tariffs on Monday. Any steel coming into the United States is going to have a 25 percent tariff. Aluminum, too… Twenty-five percent.”
Earlier, while addressing a press briefing with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday, Trump said, “I’ll be announcing that next week, reciprocal trade so that we’re treated evenly with other countries.” He added, “We don’t want any more, any less.”
Previously, Trump had threatened to slap a 10 percent or 20 percent universal tariff and had asked his administration to review that possibility as part of a broader trade review due by April 1.
Trump, who announced that the tariffs would be applicable to every nation, added that the announcement would likely be made on “Monday or Tuesday,” Politico reported. He explained, “I think that’s the only fair way to do it that way nobody’s hurt.” He reiterated, “They charge us, we charge them. It’s the same thing, and I seem to be going in that line as opposed to a flat fee tariff.”
In many cases, the U.S. has lower tariffs than other nations for the same product, although Trump did not mention whether there would be exclusions to the new round of tariffs. The U.S. President often speaks about high tariffs imposed by foreign governments on cars, where the U.S. duty is only 2.5 percent.
During his presidential campaign, Trump had announced he would work with Congress to pass the Reciprocal Trade Act, which would give him the authority to increase the tariff on a particular foreign good to the level imposed by that nation.
In a campaign video, he stated, “Under the Trump Reciprocal Trade Act, other countries will have two choices — they’ll get rid of their tariffs on us, or they will pay us hundreds of billions of dollars, and the United States will make an absolute FORTUNE.”
He further said, “If India, China, or any other country hits us with a 100 or 200 percent tariff on American-made goods, we will hit them with the same exact tariff. In other words, 100 percent is 100 percent. If they charge us, we charge them — an eye for an eye, a tariff for a tariff, same exact amount.”