The tariff offensive undertaken by the US president, Donald Trump, continues. The Republican has expanded the scope of 50% tariffs that applies to steel and aluminum imports. Now, it will also be extended to imports to the US wind turbine market, mobile cranes, appliances, appliances, Excavators, railway cars, motorcycles, marine engines or furniture.
In total, the US trade department has extended these taxes to a total of 407 categories of products that will complement the list of what the United States considers “derivatives” of steel and aluminum. It is a modification that is generalized to all countries, that is, it does not only affect European imports.
The new tariff modification will undoubtedly have an impact on the collection of customs rates of the US administration. The Evercore ISI investment bank firm pointed out that the measure affects more than 400 product codes that They represented more than 200,000 million dollars in imports in 2024. It also estimates that the global effective tariff type will increase in around a percentage point, according to Reuters.
The objective, as explained by the US Department of Commerce, was to strengthen the American industry and prevent exporters from avoiding levies. Washington has manifested on numerous concern about Chinese overproduction in the steel and aluminum segment, that floods the markets and pushes the downward prices. Therefore, this commercial barrier is articulated as a formula to stop the effects of a policy that Beijing has not reversed.
The list includes sensitive products for the EU, as components of the automotive sector. It would affect imported parts for car escape tubes and steel necessary for electric vehicles. There are also components for Buses, air conditioners and appliances, including refrigerators, freezers and dryers.
The truth is that Brussels and Washington still continue to profile the negotiations of the agreement reached between Trump and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, last July. In addition to this maximum 15% tariff, a 50% rate for steel and aluminum imports was agreed. However, both parties They still negotiate a maximum import volume that would be exempt from application of such a high tax.
It is a symptom of understanding between the powers on both sides of the Atlantic, concerned with the repercussions of Chinese overproduction to world trade. The negotiations also continue to fix, precisely, a tariff to the imports of vehicles and components of vehicles. From Brussels they defend that this rate could not exceed the maximum 15% agreed between the two leaders, But it is not clear that Washington has the same idea in mind.
There is not much reaction margin. The extension of the tariff will immediately enter into force. It will also affect compressors and bombs, as well as the metal present in Imported cosmetics and personal care containers, such as aerosol cans.
The measure is not exempt from controversy, since one of the greatest difficulties in applying these tariffs lies in determining what percentage of a product contains steel or aluminum. Butter knives, babies for babies, Aerosol deodorants and extinguishersconsidered products derived from steel and aluminum, were previously excluded from the 50 %tariff.
While the Brussels and Washington do not set the last fringes of the agreement, the Spanish industry will suffer the consequences of the tariff climbing. Spain is the tenth country that exports the most steel to the US market and the national industry risked to lose More than 10% of its turnover only with 50% levies to steel and aluminum. A cost that could also reduce the margins of exporting companies.
The European Steel Association (Eurofer) also warned that White House taxes are a threat to the sector. So much so that they compared it to the “last key in the coffin of the European steel industry.” They warned that if European steel, in a “already precarious” market, It will also disappear all industries linked to the sector, such as automotive, Security and defense or infrastructure. What, after all, would compromise European industrial sovereignty.
Steel and aluminum tariffs was the first tariff measure announced by Trump to the EU. First, With a 25%rate, after 50%. Cars followed with a 25% tariff to which a rate of 2.5% would be added and then the universal tariff of 20% to all community imports.
