US punitive tariffs on other steel and aluminum products

Washington (dpa) - The United States has extended its punitive tariffs to imports of steel and aluminum from around the world. Special levies on products such as steel nails, staples, wire and cables have been in force since midnight on Saturday (local time / 6:00 a.m.CET).

Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and South Korea are exempt from the new tariffs on steel products and Argentina, Australia, Canada and Mexico from the duties on aluminum products.

Under the pretext of national security, US President Donald Trump covered the whole world with special tariffs on steel and aluminum in spring 2018. At the end of January, the US government justified the expansion by saying that manufacturers circumvented the punitive tariffs by supplying more of those aluminum and steel products that were not on the punitive tariff list.

Trump is bothered that the US trade balance has been in the red for years. He sees the enormous balance as a result of the policies of other countries, which he believes are promoting their export economies with unfair methods. Trump is putting pressure on large trading partners to import more from the United States.

Announcement of punitive tariffs