Doubling of steel tariffs to lead to trade disruption, import pressures: associations

A number of steel associations have reacted to US President Donald Trump's decision to double tariffs on steel and aluminum to 50%, warning of "massive" burdens, trade disruptions and import pressures.

Trump said in May 30 speech and on a social media post that the tariffs would be doubled from the previous 25% that came into effect on March 12.

American Iron and Steel Institute CEO Kevin Dempsey welcomed the announcement, saying the tariffs would help prevent new surges in imports that would injure US steelmakers.

"Led by China, global steel overcapacity and production continue to grow, even as overall global steel demand is being impacted by the sharp downturn in the Chinese construction sector. As a result, Chinese steel exports to the world have more than doubled since 2020, surging to 118 million mt in 2024 -- more than total North American steel production," he said in a May 30 statement.

In 2024, the US imported roughly 29 million mt of steel, up 2.5% year over year, with the top importer being Canada.

But Canadian Steel Producers Association CEO Catherine Cobden said in a May 31 statement that the association condemned the latest increase, which was "a move that essentially closes the US market to our domestic industry for half of its production."

"Furthermore, steel tariffs at this level will create mass disruption and negative consequences across our highly integrated steel supply chains and customers on both sides of the border," she said.

Cobden called on the Canadian government to immediately fully reinstate retaliatory steel tariffs to match the US tariffs and implement them as quickly as possible at Canadian borders to "stop unfairly traded steel from entering Canada."

"This latest announcement from the Trump Administration is a further blow to Canadian steel that will have unrecoverable consequences. The new government has already consulted on possible new measures," she said.

New escalation in trade conflict

German steel association WV Stahl said in a June 1 statement that the move marked a new escalation in the trans-Atlantic trade conflict and would put "massive pressure" on the European steel industry.

"A 50% levy on steel exports is a massive burden for our industry, as it will further increase the pressure on an already crisis-ridden economy and impact our steel industry in many ways," WV Stahl Managing Director Kerstin Maria Rippel said.

She said the measures would add a greater burden on direct exports to the US, while indirectly, traditional supplier countries would divert their steel to the EU, intensifying the already considerable import pressure on Europe.

She said 1 mt of steel out of 3 mt was already imported, with 3 million-4 million mt/year coming from Russia.

"It is therefore essential for the European Commission to maintain a balance between tough trade protection measures and prudent negotiations: Specifically, an effective trade protection instrument for the European steel industry is needed now -- intensive work is currently underway on this, and we welcome this," Rippel said.

She added negotiations on a bilateral steel agreement with the US were important and it supported the EC's efforts.

The commission said in a June 2 read-out of the meeting between President Ursula von der Leyen and US Senator Lindsay Graham that, regarding tariffs, both sides had agreed that a negotiated solution before the end of the 90-day period would be the best scenario.

Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, assessed domestic hot-rolled coil prices in Northern Europe at Eur625/mt ($714/mt) ex-works Ruhr May 30, up 12% since the start of 2025.

UK Steel

UK Steel said in a May 31 statement that, despite a May 8 US-UK trade agreement, the original 25% steel and aluminum import tax had remained in place while officials ironed out the details of the decision, which meant the new 50% charge would likely affect all UK steelmakers' US imports from June 4.

It noted the US was the UK's second-largest export market, worth around GBP400 million ($541.4 million) and totaling 9% of exports by value, making it critical that the new tariff did not apply to the UK.

UK Steel Director-General Gareth Stace said the raised tariffs were "another body blow for all UK steelmakers in this torrid time," with steelmakers worried orders would be canceled, some of which were likely being shipped already.

He said the doubling of tariffs plunged the UK steel industry further into confusion.

"Uncertainty remains as to whether and when our second-biggest export market will be open for business or is being firmly shut in our faces," Stace said.

He said UK Steel was pressing the government to finalize the agreement to eliminate UK steel import tax and for it to come into effect urgently.

Elsewhere, Ugur Dalbeler, vice president of Turkey's steel exporter union, told Platts the move would likely have negative repercussions on global trade, as well as cause US domestic steel prices to rise well above the world average, creating a significant cost increase for the country's manufacturing industry.