Trump says he will announce 25 pc duties on steel, aluminum imports; threatens more to come

New York, Feb 10 (IANS) US President Donald Trump has said that he will announce a 25 per cent duty on all steel and aluminum imports, a long-standing contentious category of trade for India and the US.

President Trump said on Sunday that he will announce the tariffs on Monday covering imports from all countries.

“Any steel coming into the United States is going to have a 25 per cent tariff, aluminum, too”, Trump said while flying to New Orleans for the Superbowl.

He said that reciprocal tariffs would also be coming for all countries.

“Very simply, if they charge us, we charge them”; he said.

Those tariffs will be announced on Tuesday or Wednesday and take effect immediately, he added.

The tariff threat came ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington this week.

India exported steel worth $4 billion and aluminum worth $1.1 billion during 2023.

Steel and aluminum trade has been a contentious – and complicated issue – for India and the US with Washington accusing New Delhi of subsidising those exports.

During PM Modi’s visit to Washington in 2023, the two countries agreed to settle six disputes before the World Trade Organisation involving the metals.

However, in October, the US slapped duties of as much as 39.5 per cent on some categories of aluminum imports.

It was not clear how the 25 per cent tariff Trump announced will apply to these.

In the last days of former President Joe Biden’s administration in January, the US agreed to waive additional tariffs imposed by Trump’s first administration ranging between 10 per cent and 25 per cent, with a joint mechanism to monitor the exports.

In return, India agreed to reduce tariffs on apples, walnuts and almonds.

India’s total exports to the US were $87.4 billion, while imports from the US were $47.8 billion last year, with a large balance in India’s favour, according the the US Census Bureau.

Trump has focussed on the US trade deficits and has vowed to reverse them through tariffs.

During his first term, he made the 100 per cent duty on Harley Davidson motorcycles an example of why he considers India a “Tariff King”.

India this month symbolically reduced the duties already reduced on heavier Harley Davidson models from 50 per cent to 30 per cent and from 50 per cent to 40 per cent for other models.

But in more substantial categories like satellite ground equipment and some scrap and waste, it scrapped duties, while reducing them in some other groups.