Latest news with #steelTariffs
The Independent
17-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Trump finally signed a UK-US trade deal - but Starmer still faces steel tariffs race
President Trump brandished his trade deal with the UK at the G7 meeting in Canada, announcing he had finally signed it after weeks of wrangling - then promptly dropped it on the ground. Keir Starmer was quick to respond to the US president's clumsiness, bending down to pick up the precious agreement, set to protect auto industry jobs in Britain. The whole thing could be seen as a metaphor for how the Republican sees these kinds of deals - and continues to treat them. Because there is a sting in the tail to what the two men signed in Alberta. Whopping tariffs of 25 per cent remain on British steel - one of the industries that can least afford them. And the prime minister now faces a race against time to try to get rid of them, before they cripple an already beleaguered industry. The US president sent shockwaves through the global economy when he announced his steel tariffs – and then, a few weeks ago, plans to double them. The UK-US trade deal unveiled with much fanfare in April should have exempted Britain from steel tariffs altogether – but there was one problem, it had yet to be implemented. And it still has not. Trump's signature means the deal can now go through parliaments on either side of the Atlantic, but that process will still take days. It was not supposed to be like this. When it was first unveiled Trump hailed the trade agreement with the UK as a 'great deal for both countries', while the prime minister said the move would 'boost British businesses and save thousands of British jobs' and deliver on his promises to protect carmakers and, crucially, save the UK's steel industry. Under its terms, levies on steel and aluminium were to be reduced to zero. However, a general 10 per cent tariff for other goods would remain and Britain agreed to scrap its tariff on ethanol coming into the UK from the US. At the time the Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, said the UK had been 'shafted' as she contrasted the amount UK business would have to pay with their costs before Trump came to power. Earlier this year, MPs were forced to hold a Saturday sitting to approve emergency plans to save British Steel 's Scunthorpe blast furnaces by taking control away from its Chinese owners. Although the new law stopped short of nationalisation, the government conceded it was "likely" British Steel would have to be taken into public ownership as Sir Keir warned the UK's economic and national security was "on the line". At the time, he said his government was 'turning the page on a decade of decline, where our manufacturing heartlands were hollowed out by the previous government. Our industry is the pride of our history – and I want it to be our future too." The British steel industry described it as a 'body blow' to wake up a few weeks ago and discover that Trump had announced overnight plans to universally double steel tariffs, from 25 to 50 per cent. That appears to have fallen again, to 25 per cent, still an astronomical sum. The calculation at the G7 has been to use a meeting with the president to get most of the way there on the trade deal. To give industries like the car sector the certainty they, and their workers, badly need. And sort out the rest later. But the beleaguered British steel industry will be hoping they get the same kind of certainty very soon indeed.
CNN
13-06-2025
- Business
- CNN
Trump's 50% steel tariffs are coming for your next fridge and dishwasher
The Trump administration will soon ensure that its 50% steel tariffs, which have threatened to make everything containing steel more expensive, will apply to your next fridge or dishwasher. The Commerce Department, in a notice set to be published in the federal register Monday, said the recently increased steel tariffs would also apply to consumer appliances that contain steel. Those so-called derivative products will be taxed an additional 50% for the amount of steel they contain, starting on June 23. Those products will include refrigerators, dryers, washing machines, dishwashers, freezers, ovens, garbage disposals and wire racks. President Donald Trump's broader tariffs have increased costs for some American manufacturers. Many parts and components are subject to Trump's tariffs, because they have no American-made alternatives – or the alternatives are more expensive than foreign products. And American appliance makers have griped about how competitors can effectively skirt those same tariffs by shipping completed products that aren't subject to the 50% levies. That's why the administration announced its so-called inclusion process aimed at preventing foreign competitors from getting around those tariffs. In theory, tariffs on imported appliances will make American-made dryers, ovens and other appliances more competitive compared with foreign equivalents, which are often made with relatively inexpensive parts and cheaper labor. At a US Steel facility in Pennsylvania two weeks ago, Trump announced he would set tariffs on steel imported into the United States at 50%, double their previous rate. He said some companies were skirting the tariffs when they were set at 25%, but he doubted anyone would be able to avoid them after he doubled the rate. Trump praised his tariffs for saving the US steel industry, claiming American steelmaking would have disappeared if he hadn't acted to impose tariffs. He said all steel would have been foreign-made and factories would have closed. Although tariffs may have given the moribund American steel business a much-needed boost, they could raise prices on a key ingredient for American construction and manufacturing – two industries Trump has said he wants to support. Spot prices for domestically sourced steel have increased since the announcement of the 25% tariff in March, as American producers haven't had to worry about as much competition from foreign steel. When Trump imposed some steel tariffs in his first term, US production expanded modestly, but it sent costs rising for cars, tools and machines and, in 2021, shrank those industries' output by more than $3 billion, the International Trade Commission found in a 2023 analysis. Trump in his first term placed 20% to 50% tariffs on imported washing machines, a levy that American manufacturer Whirlpool initially praised. But the company lamented Trump's steel tariffs, bemoaning the hundreds of millions of dollars in higher costs to make its products. That ultimately hiked the price of an average washing machines by around $90 and created just 1,800 American jobs, total, according to the Federal Reserve and the University of Chicago.
CNN
13-06-2025
- Business
- CNN
Trump's 50% steel tariffs are now coming for your next fridge and dishwasher
The Trump administration will soon ensure that its 50% steel tariffs, which have threatened to make everything containing steel more expensive, will apply to your next fridge or dishwasher. The Commerce Department, in a notice set to be published in the federal register Monday, said the recently increased steel tariffs would also apply to consumer appliances that contain steel. Those so-called derivative products will be taxed an additional 50% for the amount of steel they contain, starting on June 23. Those products will include refrigerators, dryers, washing machines, dishwashers, freezers, ovens, garbage disposals and wire racks. President Donald Trump's broader tariffs have increased costs for some American manufacturers. Many parts and components are subject to Trump's tariffs, because they have no American-made alternatives – or the alternatives are more expensive than foreign products. And American appliance makers have griped about how competitors can effectively skirt those same tariffs by shipping completed products that aren't subject to the 50% levies. That's why the administration announced its so-called inclusion process aimed at preventing foreign competitors from getting around those tariffs. In theory, tariffs on imported appliances will make American-made dryers, ovens and other appliances more competitive compared with foreign equivalents, which are often made with relatively inexpensive parts and cheaper labor. At a US Steel facility in Pennsylvania two weeks ago, Trump announced he would set tariffs on steel imported into the United States at 50%, double their previous rate. He said some companies were skirting the tariffs when they were set at 25%, but he doubted anyone would be able to avoid them after he doubled the rate. Trump praised his tariffs for saving the US steel industry, claiming American steelmaking would have disappeared if he hadn't acted to impose tariffs. He said all steel would have been foreign-made and factories would have closed. Although tariffs may have given the moribund American steel business a much-needed boost, they could raise prices on a key ingredient for American construction and manufacturing – two industries Trump has said he wants to support. Spot prices for domestically sourced steel have increased since the announcement of the 25% tariff in March, as American producers haven't had to worry about as much competition from foreign steel. When Trump imposed some steel tariffs in his first term, US production expanded modestly, but it sent costs rising for cars, tools and machines and, in 2021, shrank those industries' output by more than $3 billion, the International Trade Commission found in a 2023 analysis. Trump in his first term placed 20% to 50% tariffs on imported washing machines, a levy that American manufacturer Whirlpool initially praised. But the company lamented Trump's steel tariffs, bemoaning the hundreds of millions of dollars in higher costs to make its products. That ultimately hiked the price of an average washing machines by around $90 and created just 1,800 American jobs, total, according to the Federal Reserve and the University of Chicago.
CTV News
05-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Mulcair calls Garneau, 'a gentleman's gentleman' and reflects on his passing
Watch CTV News political commentator Tom Mulcair reflects on Marc Garneau's legacy, working with him in politics, and Canada's response to U.S. steel tariffs.
CTV News
04-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Joly stresses building 'strong domestic market' in the face of doubled tariffs on steel, aluminum
Watch Minster Melanie Joly says the government is going to build a strong domestic economy to stand against the U.S.' newly doubled steel and aluminum tariffs
