Issue 22, 2025 - This week's editorial: Trump doubles down on tariff, Chinese prices plummet

It’s a good thing press is digital these days. A lot of paper would have been wasted reprinting editions each time Donald Trump announces and then amends a trade measure. Late on Friday, as much of the world was shifting into weekend mode, the US President said he was doubling his tariff on steel imports to 50% from 25%, to stop any imports from “getting over the fence”. US steelmakers squealed with glee, while everyone else did a facepalm. In the days prior, US hot rolled coil prices nevertheless declined further. Chinese steel prices meanwhile dropped to new lows amid concerns over weak summer demand, and Turkish mills’ scrap bookings ground to a halt amid falling prices of their alternative feedstock – China-origin billet.

Trump claimed he doubled the steel tariff to erect a more impenetrable barrier to foreign steel competing against US domestic steel, with some overseas exporters potentially able to overcome the 25% tariff. The American Iron and Steel Institute lauded the move, highlighting that China’s 118 million tonnes of steel exports last year exceeded overall US steel production.

This came days after the Court of International Trade in New York City blocked Trump's so-called "reciprocal" tariffs, finding that the president is not granted authority to impose such levies under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., issued a stay of that decision on Thursday, leaving the tariffs in place temporarily.

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