U.S. Steel, Aluminum Tariffs Spark Global Backlash

Canada, Mexico and the European Union are threatening to hit back against recently-announced tariffs from President Donald Trump on all steel and aluminum imported into the United States. 

On February 10, President Donald Trump said that he planned to impose 25% levies against foreign steel and aluminum, starting on March 12. The move quickly drew the ire of some of the United States' closest trading partners, with European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen warning that Trump's new tariffs "will not go unanswered," according to The Guardian. 

“The EU will act to safeguard its economic interests,” von der Leyen vowed. That could include tariffs against an array of U.S. exports into European countries, including whiskey and bourbon, which were heavily taxed by the EU in retaliation for steel and aluminum tariffs Trump enacted during his first term in 2018. 

Similarly, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that his country would "stand up strongly and firmly" against the new tariffs, labeling the levies "unacceptable."

Mexico's Secretary of Economy Marcelo Ebrard echoed that sentiment, calling the steel and aluminum tariffs "unfair" and "not justified."

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Canada and Mexico are the first and third biggest exporters of steel to the U.S. respectively, while roughly a quarter of EU steel exports go to the United States.

Data from the U.S. International Trade Commission found that Trump's 2018 tariffs raised the average price of steel by 2.4%, and aluminum by 1.6%. A 2023 paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research also determined that the burden from those levies was "almost entirely borne by U.S. firms and consumers."