Trump imposes sweeping 25% steel and aluminum tariffs. Canada and Europe swiftly retaliate

CNN — President Donald Trump imposed sweeping 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imported into the United States Wednesday, a policy aimed at leveling the playing field for US manufacturing but a move that threatens to drive up prices on a broad range of consumer and industrial goods for Americans.It’s the latest salvo in Trump’s multifaceted tariff plan aimed at correcting perceived trade imbalances and reigniting domestic industry. But it risks igniting a global trade war. The European Union, hit for the first time by higher US tariffs since Trump returned to the White House, retaliated within hours with countermeasures on US goods exports. And later Wednesday morning, Canada announced over $20 billion in retaliatory measures as well.The tariffs on steel and aluminum mark the first time in Trump’s second term that a set of tariffs has been applied to all countries.Imposing steel and aluminum tariffs poses a risky bet: Although it could give America’s steel and aluminum industries a boost, it will raise prices on a key ingredient for American manufacturers, which could be passed on to consumers. The costs could outweigh the benefit.That’s what happened in Trump’s first term: Although Trump’s 2018 metals tariffs expanded US production modestly, 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.It could also backfire on the industries it’s designed to protect: Trump’s tariffs could cost 100,000 American jobs, including 20,000 from the aluminum industry, William Oplinger, CEO of Alcoa, one of the largest US aluminum makers, warned last month.“We will continue to maintain our countermeasures and increase them on April 2nd,” Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Wednesday. LeBlanc is set to travel to Washington tomorrow to meet with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick Thursday.“The conversation tomorrow will be around lowering the temperature and focusing on the process that President Trump set up, where Secretary Lutnick has up to April 2nd to determine a series of global tariff decisions,” he added. April 2 is the date the administration said reciprocal tariff actions will be announced across many countries.Canada’s Algoma Steel (ASTL) said it’s temporarily suspending all shipments to the US in response to the tariffs.The pause will be in place until the company has a better understanding of where tariffs stand given the heightened volatility lately, which was on full display on Tuesday, Michael Garcia said Wednesday in an interview on CNBC.Algoma is one of the largest Canadian steel companies and a major supplier to the US. In anticipation of the tariffs and the potential financial ramifications of them, Algoma laid off 20 workers, the Toronto Star reported.