Today President Donlad J Trump announced the latest salvo in his tariff war on other nations, including our best trade partners and allies.
Trump signed proclamations raising the U.S. tariff rate on aluminum to 25% from his previous 10% rate and eliminating country exceptions and quota deals as well as hundreds of thousands of product-specific tariff exclusions for both metals. The lastest round are set to take effect on March 4th.
Tariffs often result in trade wars and inflation as tariffs imposed in response by other countries are passed on to consumers.
Trump ran on lowering the costs of goods which hit economies all around the world stemming stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic recovery. On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly claimed he would “bring prices down on day one.” So far, Trump has not taken any measures or steps to make that happen.
In fact, when asked about reducing the costs of groceries, fuel and other essentials, Trump now says, it is not his number one issue. He also added that American will feel some pain but will understand.
The newest tariffs will apply to millions of tons of steel and aluminum imports from Cananda, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and other countries.