The tariffs had faced a brief legal setback earlier this week when a court ruled Trump had overstepped his authority, but an appellate court yesterday ruled the tariffs could continue while the litigation moves forward.
Trump has also issued sector-specific levies that affect goods such as automobiles.
Today he defended his trade policies, arguing that tariffs helped protect US industry.
He added that the steel facility he was speaking in would not exist if he had not also imposed duties on metals imports during his first administration.
‘Devil in the details’
Trump touted a planned partnership between US Steel and Japan’s Nippon Steel today but offered few new details on a deal that earlier faced bipartisan opposition.
He stressed that despite a recently announced planned partnership between the American steelmaker and Nippon Steel, “US Steel will continue to be controlled by the USA”.
He added that there would be no layoffs or outsourcing of jobs by the company.
Upon returning to Washington after the US Steel visit, Trump told reporters he had yet to approve the deal.
“I have to approve the final deal with Nippon, and we haven’t seen that final deal yet, but they’ve made a very big commitment,” Trump said.
Last week, Trump said US Steel would remain in America and its headquarters would stay in Pittsburgh, adding that the arrangement with Nippon would create at least 70,000 jobs and add US$14 billion ($23.5b) to the US economy.
Trump in Pennsylvania said that as part of its commitment, Nippon would invest US$2.2b to boost steel production in the Mon Valley Works-Irvin plant where he was speaking.
Another US$7b would go towards modernising steel mills, expanding ore mining and building facilities in places including Indiana and Minnesota.
A proposed US$14.9b sale of US Steel to Nippon Steel had previously drawn political opposition from both sides of the aisle. Former President Joe Biden blocked the deal on national security grounds shortly before leaving office.
There remain lingering concerns over the new partnership.
The United Steelworkers union (USW), which represents thousands of hourly workers at US Steel facilities, said after Trump’s speech that it had not participated in discussions involving Nippon Steel and the Trump administration, “nor were we consulted”.
“We cannot speculate about the meaning of the ‘planned partnership’,” said USW international president David McCall in a statement.
“Whatever the deal structure, our primary concern remains with the impact that this merger of US Steel into a foreign competitor will have on national security, our members and the communities where we live and work,” McCall said.
“The devil is always in the details,” he added.
Trump had opposed Nippon Steel’s takeover plan while on the election campaign trail. However, since returning to the presidency, he signalled that he would be open to some form of investment after all.
- Agence France-Presse
