Trump Announces Plans to Increase Tariffs on Steel Imports From 25% to 50%

“We are going to be imposing a 25% increase,” Trump said during a rally at a US Steel plant near Pittsburgh. “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 was visiting the plant in support of an expected deal between United States Steel Corp. and Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp. Last week, Trump wrote on social media that the new partnership between the steel companies “will create at least 70,000 jobs, and add $14 Billion Dollars to the US Economy.”

Shortly before leaving office, former President Joe Biden had blocked the partnership for national security reasons. Trump had also initially opposed the sale of the US steel company to the Japanese entity back in September.

“I believe that this group of people that just made this investment right now are very happy, because that means that nobody’s going to be able to steal your industry,” Trump added at the rally in support of the deal.

Aiming to boost the domestic steel industry, Trump had previously imposed a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports, on top of automobile tariffs and a baseline 10% tariff on all imports.

Real estate experts have told Business Insider that tariffs on steel would slow down all types of construction, exacerbate America’s housing shortage, and drive up rent.

Representatives for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.