As widely leaked over the past few days and as confirmed earlier this morning, moments ago Commerce Secretary confirmed that the Trump administration is imposing steel and aluminum tariffs on the EU, Canada and Mexico, with the tariff set to begin at midnight tonight to help protect America’s manufacturing base:
- U.S. COMMERCE SECRETARY ROSS SAYS EUROPEAN UNION, CANADA AND MEXICO WILL FACE STEEL AND ALUMINUM TARIFFS BEGINNING AT MIDNIGHT TONIGHT
- TRUMP TO IMPOSE STEEL, ALUMINUM TARIFFS ON CANADA, MEXICO, EU
- ROSS SAYS EU, CANADA, MEXICO WILL PAY 25 PCT STEEL TARIFF AND 10 PCT ALUMINUM TARIFF: RTRS
Canada, Mexico and Europe were exempted from import duties of 25% on steel and 10 per cent on aluminum when they were first imposed in March, but those exemptions will expire at midnight.
Ross told a conference call with media this morning that he is looking forward to continuing negotiations. But in the case of Canada and Mexico, he said the decision was based on making progress in the ongoing North American Free Trade Agreement talks, and there is no resolution in sight. “The talks are taking longer than we had hoped.”
Ross also said he’s looking forward to “continued negotiations” with Canada, Mexico and EU “because there are other issues” that need to be resolved. There’s potential “flexibility” in the future because the president has the power to increase or cut tariffs, remove them, or enact quotas, he said.
President Donald Trump has justified the metals duties by invoking a national security provision under Section 232 of a 1960s trade law.
US Steelmakers were delighted with the news, as Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum producer, rose over 2% to $49.60 while Nucor, the biggest US steelmaker, also rose more than 2% percent to $65.50 a share.
Meanwhile, as noted earlier, both the CAD and MXN continued selling off on the news, with the Loonie erasing yesterday’s BOC hawkish language-driven gains…
… while the Peso slumped to one-week lows…
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