President Donald Trump speaks on May 30, 2025 in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, to supporters during a rally at the US Steel-Irvin Works.
Jeff Swensen | Getty pictures
The European Union criticized President Donald Trump's change on Saturday to double the tariffs for steel imports and warned that they “achieve an” negotiated solution “in the current trade war.
“We urgently regret the announced increase in the US tariffs for steel imports from 25% to 50%,” said a EU spokesman in a statement to NBC News.
“This decision further increases the global economy and increases the costs for consumers and companies on both sides of the Atlantic,” the spokesman continued.
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The spokesman added that the EU was “willing to present countermeasures, including reaction to the latest US tariff increase”.
The United Steelworkers Union (etc.) also criticized Trump's announcement and said it was a “direct attack on Canadian industries and workers”.
“Thousands of Canadian jobs are on the line and municipalities that rely on steel and aluminum are at risk,” said Marty Warren, National Director of United Steel Workers near Canada.
“Canada has to react immediately and determined to defend the employees.”
Trump announced on Friday that he had doubled from 25% from 25% to steel imports to 50%, which increases the pressure on the manufacturers that depends on industrial metals for production.
The new import duties will come into force on June 4th.
His announcement, which was made in a rally in US steel in Pennsylvania, came after the president signaled in the early this month that he would approved a controversial deal between Nippon Steel and US Steel.
Trump raised an “agreement” between Nippon and Us Steel during the rally on Friday, but said that the deal was not yet final.
He said that due to the deal there would be no layoffs and “no outsourcing” at all.
The EU, the said that on April 14 it maintained its countermeasures against the United States to allow time and space, “said she was ready to introduce these measures” if no acceptable solution has been achieved “.
“The European Commission is currently completing consultations for expanded countermeasures,” said the spokesman. “If no acceptable solution is reached for both sides, both existing and additional EU measures will be automatically effective on July 14th – or earlier if the circumstances are required.”
The Trump government's collective bargaining plan hit a catch this week after the US Court of International Trade had hired almost all country-specific tariffs from Trump on the grounds that he had exceeded its authority.
The order of the court to terminate the tariffs was quickly arrived by an appellate court at least for the time being.
Despite the break, the verdict has thrown a wrench into the wider trade strategy of the government, which is based at the risk of high tariffs, to achieve leverage and to force the countries to negotiate their trade agreements with the USA
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