Trump intensifies tariff pressure

Donald Trump, president of the United States, continues with his tariff offensive.

The new US president has announced new tariffs of 25% on steel and aluminium imports, which will significantly harm nations already warned by US tariffs, such as China (a major geopolitical rival of the US) and Canada.

Since his appointment as President of the United States, Donald Trump had already announced that he was going to impose significant tariffs to make it more difficult for foreign products to enter the national market and thus favour products made by the North American giant, as well as to obtain much more income from these taxes applied to products imported from abroad. 

The high tariffs imposed on steel and aluminium imports come into force this Monday, after having been signed by the US president himself on Sunday on his way to witness the Super Bowl final, where he was cheered by the crowd at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. ‘Any steel that comes into the United States is going to have a 25% tariff. Aluminium too. 25% for both,’ said Donald Trump from the flight he took on Sunday in the presidential plane Air Force One. 

Donald Trump emphasised that this measure affects all countries, including Mexico and Canada, with respect to which he had announced a one-month postponement in the imposition of tariff measures. The grace period that the US president had imposed on these neighbouring countries no longer counts in relation to the trade in steel and aluminium.

Canada is one of the main suppliers of these metals to the US market and this is fatal news for the Canadian economy, which had been given a breathing space following the one-month postponement of the US tariffs announced a few days ago. All this after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau harshly condemned the tariff strategy proposed by the Trump administration. 

China, the great geopolitical enemy of the United States, with whom it rivals for the world's political and economic leadership, is a very important player in this tariff scenario because, precisely, the Asian giant is at the forefront of world steel and aluminium production, although the US is not the main buyer of these metals for China. In 2024, the United States only purchased 1.8% of its total steel from China and only 3% of its total aluminium purchases came from China. 

Furthermore, Trump announced that he will raise tariffs even higher in response to retaliatory measures taken by other countries, although it remains to be seen on what day he would make this decision official. ‘It's very simple. If they charge us, we charge them,’ Trump explained. These tariffs will be imposed ‘almost immediately’ and their impact will be ‘on all countries.’

Donald Trump himself, on the flight in Air Force One, also referred to the fact that they still intend to control the Gaza Strip in order to develop the area and obtain an economic return. As for this option, the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, has already indicated that he is making the end of the Gaza war conditional on the removal from power of the Palestinian extremist group Hamas after a truce has been established in the area.

Another announcement made by Donald Trump on the presidential flight was that the Gulf of Mexico will be renamed the Gulf of America. This executive order will only have effect at a national level and it is unlikely that the relevant international organisations will accept the proposal.