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US tariffs of 50 per cent on steel and aluminium will take effect from June 4 after Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday escalating his global trade war.
The new tariffs double existing levies of 25 per cent that the president introduced earlier this year. Duties on UK steel and aluminium will remain at 25 per cent — a carve-out for London after it signed a trade deal with Washington last month.
Trump said on Tuesday that the tariffs were necessary to prevent dumping by foreign producers that would “threaten to impair the national security”.
“The increased tariffs will more effectively counter foreign countries that continue to offload low-priced, excess steel and aluminium in the US market and thereby undercut the competitiveness of the United States Steel and aluminium industries,” Trump wrote in the order.
The new duties intensify the president’s global trade war even as much of his trade agenda remains in legal limbo after a court ruled his most sweeping April 2 “liberation day” tariffs were illegal.
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