Trump doubles steel tariffs to 50% in ‘major announcement’
By CNN
May 30, 2025
May 30, 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump announced Friday that he would set tariffs on steel imported into the United States at 50%, double their current rate.
At a US Steel facility in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, Trump said he had a “major announcement.” To an applauding crowd of US Steel employees, Trump said he would jack up the tariff to protect America’s steelworkers.
“We are going to be imposing a 25% increase,” Trump said. “We’re going to bring it from 25% to 50%, the tariffs on steel into the United States of America, which will even further secure the steel industry in the United States. Nobody’s going to get around that.”
Trump said he was considering a 40% tariff, but industry executives told him they wanted a 50% tariff.
“At 25% they can sorta get over that fence,” Trump said. “At 50% nobody’s getting over that fence.”
Trump on March 12 imposed sweeping 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports, which were met with immediate retaliation from Canada and dismay from America’s auto industry. The European Union also lashed out and announced retaliatory tariffs that it ultimately rescinded.
Trump on Friday praised his tariffs for saving the US steel industry, claiming American steelmaking would have disappeared if he hadn’t acted to impose tariffs. He said all steel would have been foreign-made and factories would have closed.
Although tariffs may have given the moribund American steel business a much-needed boost, they could raise prices on a key ingredient for American construction and manufacturing – two industries Trump has said he wanted to support. Spot prices for domestically-sourced steel have increased since the announcement of the 25% tariff in March, as American producers didn’t have to worry about as much competition from foreign steel.
In 2018, when Trump imposed some steel tariffs in his first term, US production expanded modestly, but it sent costs rising for cars, tools and machines and shrank those industries’ output by more than $3 billion in 2021, the International Trade Commission found in a 2023 analysis. The costs may have outweighed the benefits.
Trump used a law commonly referred to as Section 232, which gives the president the authority to impose higher tariffs on national security grounds, to put increased levies on foreign steel.
In total, the US imported $31.3 billion worth of iron and steel last year, according to data from the US Commerce Department. (The government data groups iron and steel together.) Canada was the top source of iron and steel, shipping $7.6 billion worth it to the US.
‘Watching over you’
Trump during Friday’s speech also celebrated the deal he approved to allow Japan’s Nippon Steel to buy a controlling stake in US Steel.
During his campaign, Trump opposed US Steel being purchased by a foreign entity. It was one of the few things he and former President Joe Biden agreed on: Biden blocked the deal, citing a national security threat.
But Trump on Friday said he became convinced that Nippon could ultimately save US Steel and its workers.
“US Steel was being sold into foreign hands with no protections for our great steel workers,” Trump said. “And I said there’s no way we’re gonna let that happen. I was watching over you.”
But then Trump said Nippon and US Steel’s executives continued to push the issue, and the deal became good enough for Trump to ultimately relent. One key factor, he said, was a so-called golden share that gives the United States a say in how the company is run.
“They kept asking me and I kept rejecting them: No way, no way, no way,” Trump said. “Every time they came in, the deal got better and better and better for the workers.”
“I’m going to be in Washington; I’m gonna be watching over it,” Trump added.
With the new tariffs and the Nippon deal, Trump said US Steel workers had much to celebrate. He invited several workers on stage who lamented the state of America’s steel industry and offered praise for Trump.
“This is going to be a very big day,” Trump said. “This is going to be one of the biggest days in your life.”
By The Associated Press
Published: May 30, 2025
The United States Steel logo is pictured outside the headquarters building in downtown Pittsburgh, April 26, 2010. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
HARRISBURG, Pa. — U.S. President Donald Trump is holding a rally in Pennsylvania on Friday to celebrate a details-to-come deal for Japan-based Nippon Steel to invest in U.S. Steel, which he says will keep the iconic American steelmaker under U.S.-control.
Though Trump initially vowed to block the Japanese steelmaker’s bid to buy Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel, he changed course and announced an agreement last week for what he described as “partial ownership” by Nippon. It’s not clear, though, if the deal his administration helped broker has been finalized or how ownership would be structured.
Trump stressed the deal would maintain American control of the storied company, which is seen as both a political symbol and an important matter for the country’s supply chain, industries like auto manufacturing and national security.
Trump, who has been eager to strike deals and announce new investments in the U.S. since retaking the White House, is also trying to satisfy voters, including blue-collar workers, who elected him as he called to protect U.S. manufacturing.
U.S. Steel has not publicly communicated any details of a revamped deal to investors. Nippon Steel issued a statement approving of the proposed “partnership” but also has not disclosed terms of the arrangement.
State and federal lawmakers who have been briefed on the matter describe a deal in which Nippon will buy U.S. Steel and spend billions on U.S. Steel facilities in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Alabama, Arkansas and Minnesota. The company would be overseen by an executive suite and board made up mostly of Americans and protected by the U.S. government’s veto power in the form of a “golden share.”
In the absence of clear details or affirmation from the companies involved, the United Steelworkers union, which has long opposed the deal, this week questioned whether the new arrangement makes “any meaningful change” from the initial proposal.
“Nippon has maintained consistently that it would only invest in U.S. Steel’s facilities if it owned the company outright,” the union said in a statement. “We’ve seen nothing in the reporting over the past few days suggesting that Nippon has walked back from this position.”
The White House did not offer any new details Thursday. U.S. Steel did not respond to messages seeking information. Nippon Steel also declined to comment.
No matter the terms, the issue has outsized importance for Trump, who last year repeatedly said he would block the deal and foreign ownership of U.S. Steel, as did former President Joe Biden.
Trump promised during the campaign to make the revitalization of American manufacturing a priority of his second term in office. And the fate of U.S. Steel, once the world’s largest corporation, could become a political liability in the midterm elections for his Republican Party in the swing state of Pennsylvania and other battleground states dependent on industrial manufacturing.
Trump said Sunday he wouldn’t approve the deal if U.S. Steel did not remain under U.S. control and said it will keep its headquarters in Pittsburgh.
In an interview on Fox News Channel on Wednesday, Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Dan Meuser called the arrangement “strictly an investment, a strategic partnership where it’s American-owned, American run and remains in America.”
However, Meuser said he hadn’t seen the deal and added that “it’s still being structured.”
Pennsylvania Republican Sen. David McCormick came out in favor of the plan, calling it “great” for the domestic steel industry, Pennsylvania, national security and U.S. Steel’s employees. A bipartisan group of senators, joined by then-Senate candidate McCormick, had opposed Nippon Steel’s initial proposed purchase of U.S. Steel for US$14.9 billion after it was announced in late 2023.
In recent days, Trump and other American officials began touting Nippon Steel’s new commitment to invest $14 billion on top of its $14.9 billion bid, including building a new electric arc furnace steel mill somewhere in the U.S.
Pennsylvania’s other senator, Democrat John Fetterman — who lives across the street from U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thomson Steel Works blast furnace — didn’t explicitly endorse the new proposal. But he said he had helped jam up Nippon Steel’s original bid until “Nippon coughed up an extra $14B.”
The planned “golden share” for the U.S. amounts to three board members approved by the U.S. government, which will essentially ensure that U.S. Steel can only make decisions that’ll be in the best interests of the United States, McCormick said Tuesday on Fox News.
Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat who is seen as a potential presidential candidate, had largely refrained from publicly endorsing a deal but said at a news conference this week that he was “cautiously optimistic” about the arrangement.
In an interview published Thursday in the conservative Washington Examiner, Shapiro said: “The deal has gotten better. The prospects for the future of steelmaking have gotten better.”
Chris Kelly, the mayor of West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, where U.S. Steel’s Irvin finishing plant is located, said he was “ecstatic” about the deal, though he acknowledged some details were unknown. He said it will save thousands of jobs for his community.
“It’s like a reprieve from taking steel out of Pittsburgh,” he said.
___
Michelle L. Price And Marc Levy, The Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. — U.S. President Donald Trump is holding a rally in Pennsylvania on Friday to celebrate a details-to-come deal for Japan-based Nippon Steel to invest in U.S. Steel, which he says will keep the iconic American steelmaker under U.S.-control.
Though Trump initially vowed to block the Japanese steelmaker’s bid to buy Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel, he changed course and announced an agreement last week for what he described as “partial ownership” by Nippon. It’s not clear, though, if the deal his administration helped broker has been finalized or how ownership would be structured.
Trump stressed the deal would maintain American control of the storied company, which is seen as both a political symbol and an important matter for the country’s supply chain, industries like auto manufacturing and national security.
Trump, who has been eager to strike deals and announce new investments in the U.S. since retaking the White House, is also trying to satisfy voters, including blue-collar workers, who elected him as he called to protect U.S. manufacturing.
U.S. Steel has not publicly communicated any details of a revamped deal to investors. Nippon Steel issued a statement approving of the proposed “partnership” but also has not disclosed terms of the arrangement.
State and federal lawmakers who have been briefed on the matter describe a deal in which Nippon will buy U.S. Steel and spend billions on U.S. Steel facilities in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Alabama, Arkansas and Minnesota. The company would be overseen by an executive suite and board made up mostly of Americans and protected by the U.S. government’s veto power in the form of a “golden share.”
In the absence of clear details or affirmation from the companies involved, the United Steelworkers union, which has long opposed the deal, this week questioned whether the new arrangement makes “any meaningful change” from the initial proposal.
“Nippon has maintained consistently that it would only invest in U.S. Steel’s facilities if it owned the company outright,” the union said in a statement. “We’ve seen nothing in the reporting over the past few days suggesting that Nippon has walked back from this position.”
The White House did not offer any new details Thursday. U.S. Steel did not respond to messages seeking information. Nippon Steel also declined to comment.
No matter the terms, the issue has outsized importance for Trump, who last year repeatedly said he would block the deal and foreign ownership of U.S. Steel, as did former President Joe Biden.
Trump promised during the campaign to make the revitalization of American manufacturing a priority of his second term in office. And the fate of U.S. Steel, once the world’s largest corporation, could become a political liability in the midterm elections for his Republican Party in the swing state of Pennsylvania and other battleground states dependent on industrial manufacturing.
Trump said Sunday he wouldn’t approve the deal if U.S. Steel did not remain under U.S. control and said it will keep its headquarters in Pittsburgh.
In an interview on Fox News Channel on Wednesday, Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Dan Meuser called the arrangement “strictly an investment, a strategic partnership where it’s American-owned, American run and remains in America.”
However, Meuser said he hadn’t seen the deal and added that “it’s still being structured.”
Pennsylvania Republican Sen. David McCormick came out in favor of the plan, calling it “great” for the domestic steel industry, Pennsylvania, national security and U.S. Steel’s employees. A bipartisan group of senators, joined by then-Senate candidate McCormick, had opposed Nippon Steel’s initial proposed purchase of U.S. Steel for US$14.9 billion after it was announced in late 2023.
In recent days, Trump and other American officials began touting Nippon Steel’s new commitment to invest $14 billion on top of its $14.9 billion bid, including building a new electric arc furnace steel mill somewhere in the U.S.
Pennsylvania’s other senator, Democrat John Fetterman — who lives across the street from U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thomson Steel Works blast furnace — didn’t explicitly endorse the new proposal. But he said he had helped jam up Nippon Steel’s original bid until “Nippon coughed up an extra $14B.”
The planned “golden share” for the U.S. amounts to three board members approved by the U.S. government, which will essentially ensure that U.S. Steel can only make decisions that’ll be in the best interests of the United States, McCormick said Tuesday on Fox News.
Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat who is seen as a potential presidential candidate, had largely refrained from publicly endorsing a deal but said at a news conference this week that he was “cautiously optimistic” about the arrangement.
In an interview published Thursday in the conservative Washington Examiner, Shapiro said: “The deal has gotten better. The prospects for the future of steelmaking have gotten better.”
Chris Kelly, the mayor of West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, where U.S. Steel’s Irvin finishing plant is located, said he was “ecstatic” about the deal, though he acknowledged some details were unknown. He said it will save thousands of jobs for his community.
“It’s like a reprieve from taking steel out of Pittsburgh,” he said.
___
Michelle L. Price And Marc Levy, The Associated Press
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