Trump Announces Doubling of Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum Starting June 4

US President Donald Trump announced this Friday, May 30, 2025, that tariffs on steel and aluminum imports will double from the current 25% to 50%. This new measure will take effect next Wednesday, June 4. The announcement came during a rally at a US Steel plant in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, before an audience composed mostly of steelworkers.

Trump justified the decision as a move to further secure American industry. "Our steel and aluminum industries are coming back like never before.", the president stated through his social network Truth Social, where he also clarified that the increase applies to both steel and aluminum. He added that this measure will generate "Another great wave of good news for our wonderful workers" of these industries. During the event in Pennsylvania, Trump emphasized that the audience "He understands the word tariff better than the people on Wall Street."He confessed that "tariff" is his fourth favorite word, only behind "God, wife, and family." The president reportedly initially considered a 40% increase but opted for 50% after discussions with industry executives.

This tightening of U.S. tariff policy comes just one day after an appeals court lifted the blockade that the Court of International Trade had imposed on a significant portion of Trump's tariff policy on imports from numerous countries. The decision to double the tariffs on steel and aluminum is seen by analysts as an escalation of Washington's ongoing trade war on several fronts.

The measure, according to the Trump administration, seeks to protect American manufacturers from what it considers unfair competition from foreign producers and to encourage domestic production.