Tariff Photo:VCG

 
US President Donald Trump reportedly said he will announce on Monday an additional 25 percent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports,MK socks including from Canada and Mexico, as well as other import duties later this week, in his latest move to escalate tariff policies. Overprotection will weaken the competitiveness of US industries, and the new tariffs will seriously damage global free trade and multilateral trade rules, said a Chinese expert.

"Any steel coming into the United States is going to have a 25 percent tariff," Trump told reporters Sunday on Air Force One as he flew from Florida to New Orleans to attend the Super Bowl, the Associated Press reported.

When asked about aluminum, Trump responded, "Aluminum, too," will be subject to the trade penalties.

"While the Trump administration offers various justifications for imposing tariffs on other countries, the real purpose of the White House is to pressure other countries into compliance by weaponizing tariffs," He Weiwen, a senior fellow at the Center for China and Globalization, told the Global Times on Monday.

During his first term, Trump imposed tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum imports from its trading partners, including the EU, Canada and Mexico, which then caused strong response.

For example, in response to the US tariffs on steel and aluminum, the EU announced in June 2018 extra duties on a list of US products including steel and aluminum products, agricultural goods and a range of other goods.

"China exported 890,000 tons of steel directly to the US in 2024, representing 0.8 percent of China's total exports. Therefore, additional US tariffs would have a limited impact on China's steel exports," Wang Guoqing, research director at the Beijing Lange Steel Information Research Center, told the Global Times on Monday. Moreover, China has introduced a series of measures to boost its domestic demand, including a large-scale trade-in program, while also diversifying export channels to new markets, Wang said.

Since taking office in January, the Trump administration has resumed its tariff policies. After announcing 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada, Trump temporarily suspended the tariffs for one month, though the future course of action remains uncertain. The 10 percent tariff on imports from China went into effect last week.

Over the years, the US steel industry didn't get a boost from the additional tariffs, He said, noting that "US steel industry increasingly lacks international competitiveness due to domestic overprotection."

According to the Associated Press, Trump also reaffirmed that he would announce "reciprocal tariffs" - "probably Tuesday or Wednesday" - meaning that the US would impose import duties on products in cases where another country has levied duties on US goods.

"If they are charging us 130 percent and we're charging them nothing, it's not going to stay that way," he told reporters.

He, the Chinese expert, adopts a wait-and-see approach regarding the actual implementation of Trump's sweeping tariffs on other countries, stressing that "It would pose a significant challenge to global free trade and multilateral trade rules if Trump were to further escalate his tariff policies."

However, He said tariffs will cause more harm to the US, as they will increase inflation, slow US economic growth and make American consumers paying the price.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on February 2 that "China's position is firm and consistent. There is no winner in trade and tariff wars."

The US unilateral tariff hikes severely violate WTO rules. This move cannot solve the US problems at home and more importantly, does not benefit either side, still less the world, the spokesperson said.