Trump eyeing tariffs of 25 % on steel, 10% on aluminum

March 2, 2018

Washington- US President Donald Trump on Thursday voiced his intention to impose tariffs of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum, a move that is expected to increase friction between the United States and its trading partners.

Announcing the plan at a meeting with senior officials of US steelmakers and aluminum makers, Trump said that he will sign documents on the import restriction measure next week.

The planned steep tariffs are believed to be mainly targeting China, but are also expected to affect Japan and European countries, although Trump did not name countries to be subject to the measure.

"What they do is they dump massive amounts of product on our country, and...it destroys our companies and our jobs," Trump said at the meeting, adding, "It's been happening for so many years." He also said, "We haven't been treated fairly by other countries."

The planned steel and aluminum tariffs will be based on Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Act, which allows the president of the United States to launch trade restriction measures for national security reasons.

Trump's tariff plan comes ahead of U.S. midterm elections in November.

In February, the Commerce Department proposed several options, including imposing tariffs of at least 24 percent on all US steel imports and at least 7.7 percent on all aluminum imports.

China has sent a senior official to the United States in an effort to avoid trade friction between the two countries. Officials of the European Union have warned that the EU would take retaliatory action against the United States if it raises tariffs on EU products.

Section of the 1962 Trade Act is often criticized as being protectionist. The United States has refrained from taking action under the clause after the founding of the World Trade Organization. The country last used the clause in 1982, when the administration of then President Ronald Reagan banned crude oil imports from Libya. Jiji Press