Here’s what we know.
That’s about to double. In a proclamation issued Tuesday, Trump confirmed that the U.S. will begin taxing nearly all steel and aluminum imports at 50% after the clock strikes midnight Wednesday. Steel and aluminum from the U.K., meanwhile, will continue to be levied at 25% due to a recent trade deal.
In Tuesday’s proclamation, Trump also said that the higher tariffs would ensure that imported steel and aluminum would “not threaten to impair the national security.”
“In my judgment, the increased tariffs will more effectively counter foreign countries that continue to offload low-priced, excess steel and aluminum in the United States,” he said in the proclamation.
While some analysts have credited the tariffs Trump imposed during his first term with strengthening domestic production of steel and aluminum, many others have warned that stark new levies can make it difficult for the industry to adjust.
Some organizations representing metal workers also note that tariffs aren’t the only solution needed to boost U.S. manufacturing.
Matt Meenan, vice president of external affairs at the Aluminum Association, added that the trade group “appreciates President Trump’s continued focus on strengthening the U.S. aluminum industry,” but that “tariffs alone will not increase U.S. primary aluminum production.”
“We also need consistent, predictable trade and tariff policy to plan for current and future investment,” Meenan said.
A range of businesses that rely on foreign-made steel and aluminum have already begun feeling the impacts of Trump’s previously-imposed levies. But the latest anticipated hikes could drive up costs even more.
If foreign competition becomes “priced out” due to these new tariffs, U.S. steel and aluminum producers may also find room to raise their own prices. As a result, even companies that don’t buy these foreign metals could end up paying more.
Steel prices have already climbed 16% since Trump became president in mid-January, according to the government’s Producer Price Index. And as of March 2025, steel cost $984 a metric ton in the U.S., significantly higher than than in Europe ($690) or China ($392), per the U.S. Commerce Department.
The new 50% tariff rate will apply to nearly all steel and aluminum coming into the U.S. from other countries. But the U.K., which recently reached a sweeping trade agreement with the U.S., will see an exception.
Per Trump’s proclamation, the duty on British steel and aluminum will now stay 25%. But that rates could be adjusted starting on July 9 if the U.S. government determines that Britain has not complied with the framework.
Trump’s planned hikes for steel and aluminum tariffs for the rest of the world could spark retaliation from other trading partners. In response to levies imposed on these metals earlier in the year, for example, the European Union previously outlined countermeasures.
