Trump says will double steel and aluminium tariffs to 50 per cent

US President Donald Trump's announcement that he would double steel and aluminium import tariffs to 50 per cent from next week drew ire from the European Union Saturday in the latest salvo in his trade wars aimed at protecting domestic industries.

- 

The EU warned it was “prepared” to retaliate against the latest tariffs, adding the sudden move “undermines ongoing efforts to reach a negotiated solution” between the bloc and the United States.

“We're going to bring it from 25 per cent to 50 per cent, the tariffs on steel into the United States of America,” Trump said Friday while addressing workers at a US Steel plant in Pennsylvania.

“Nobody's going to get around that,” he added in the speech before blue-collar workers in the battleground state that helped deliver his election victory last year.

Shortly after, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that the elevated rate would also apply to aluminium, with the new tariffs “effective Wednesday, June 4th.” Since returning to the presidency in January, Trump has imposed sweeping tariffs on allies and adversaries alike in moves that have rocked the world trade order and roiled financial markets.

The tariffs had seen a brief legal setback earlier this week when a court ruled Trump had overstepped his authority, but an appellate court on Thursday said the tariffs could continue while the litigation moves forward.

Trump has also issued sector-specific levies that affect goods such as automobiles.

On Friday, he defended his trade policies, arguing that tariffs helped protect US industry.