President Trump Threatens To Double Steel, Aluminum Tariffs While Taking On China

Last Friday evening, May 30, in remarks in Pittsburgh, President Donald Trump announced that his administration plans to soon double Section 232 tariffs on steel imports from 25 percent to 50 percent. “We’re going to bring it from 25 to 50 percent on steel into the United States of America, which will even further secure the steel industry in the United States,” President Trump said.

Later that evening on social media, President Trump said the increase in the Section 232 penalties would apply to aluminum products as well.

White House officials explained the tariffs could go into effect as early as this week, most likely Wednesday, June 4. Neither they, nor the president, offered any other details, however. Stay tuned to Connecting the Dots as this story develops.

In other trade news, a day after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said trade negotiations with China had “stalled,” President Trump took to social media to accuse the country of violating a truce on tariffs struck earlier this month. (Read the Connecting the Dots story on that agreement at this link.)

President Trump did not offer details, but U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer later said China had not been removing non-tariff barriers as it had agreed to do under the deal. Ambassador Greer also told CNBC China is “slow rolling” compliance with the deal. The Chinese government did not directly address the Trump administration’s criticisms, but instead called on the U.S. government to “cease discriminatory restrictions against China.” Despite his earlier admonition, President Trump also offered some optimism, later saying, “I’m sure I’ll speak to President Xi and we’ll figure [it] out.”