Importing steel and aluminum is reportedly about to get much more expensive


The Department of Commerce is reportedly set to recommend some serious tariffs on aluminum and steel imports. Axios reported Friday that these recommendations would set a minimum 7.7 percent tariff on all aluminum imports and a 24 percent tariff on all steel imports.
Under these recommendations, tariffs on aluminum imports from China, Russia, Venezuela, and Vietnam specifically will climb to 23.5 percent. Additionally, no country will be able to export more than of 86.7 percent of the amount of aluminum they sold to the U.S. in 2017, Axios says.
A select few countries would also face higher tariffs on steel, including Egypt, India, and Turkey. Russia, Vietnam, and China are also among this group, which will be subjected to a minimum 53 percent tariff on all steel imports.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
These recommendations were presented after a Section 232 Investigation by the Department of Commerce, which was meant to determine "whether import restrictions on steel and aluminum are needed to protect national security," Reuters says. But implementing these policies would amount to "a declaration of war against the world on aluminum and steel," a former senior government trade official told Axios.
There is no guarantee that President Trump will act on all or even many of the recommended changes, though he has reportedly long itched for stronger tariffs on steel and aluminum imports — despite the objections of several members of his administration, Axios notes. Earlier this week, several prominent Republicans, including Sens. Mike Lee (Utah) and Pat Toomey (Pa.), warned Trump that imposing severe tariffs on such imports would damage American industry.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kelly O'Meara Morales is a staff writer at The Week. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and studied Middle Eastern history and nonfiction writing amongst other esoteric subjects. When not compulsively checking Twitter, he writes and records music, subsists on tacos, and watches basketball.
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fine
Speed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year