He said the US would match tariff rates levied by other countries and that this would apply to all countries.
“And very simply, it’s, if they charge us, we charge them,” Trump said of the reciprocal tariff plan.
Trump during his first term imposed tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum, but later granted several trading partners duty-free quotas, including Canada, Mexico and Brazil.
Former President Joe Biden extended these quotas to Britain, Japan and the European Union, and US steel mill capacity utilization has dropped in recent years.
According to government and American Iron and Steel Institute data, the largest sources of US steel imports are Canada, Brazil and Mexico, followed by South Korea and Vietnam.
By a large margin, Canada is the largest supplier of primary aluminum metal to the United States, accounting for 79% of total imports in the first 11 months of 2024. Mexico is a major…
