Trumps 50% tariffs on imported steel, aluminum take effect

US President Donald Trump’s 50% tariffs on most imported steel and aluminum went into effect on Wednesday, the same day as his deadline for trading partners to give their “best offer” in bids to avoid import tax rates on other goods from taking effect next month.Late on Tuesday, Trump signed an executive proclamation to implement, starting Wednesday, his announcement last week to increase tariffs on steel and aluminum imports that had been in place since March from 25% to 50%.The new tax went into effect at 12:01 a.m.“We started at 25 and then after studying the data more, realized that it was a big help, but more help is needed.

And so that is why the 50 is starting tomorrow,” White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said at a steel industry conference on Tuesday.The increase applies to nearly all trading partners, with Britain the only exception, since it is the only country so far that has reached a preliminary trade agreement with the US during a 90-day pause on a wider array of US tariffs.Steel and aluminum imports from the UK will continue to be taxed at 25% until at least July 9.About a quarter of all steel used in the US is imported, and the increased tariffs will hit strong US trading partners Canada and Mexico particularly hard, Census Bureau data shows.The two US neighbors rank number one and three, respectively, in steel shipment volumes to the US.Canada is even more impacted by the aluminum duties as the top exporter to the US by far at roughly twice the rest of the top 10 exporters’ volumes combined.Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office said Canada was “engaged in intensive and live negotiations to have these and other tariffs removed.”Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard emphasized that the tariffs were unsustainable and unfair, especially given that Mexico imports more steel from the US than it exports to the country.“It makes no sense for the United States to levy a tariff on a product in which you have a surplus,” he sa...