While traveling from Florida to New Orleans for the Super Bowl aboard Air Force One, President Trump declared that he will announce the imposition of 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the United States. He told reporters, “Any steel coming into the United States is going to have a 25% tariff.”
The president also noted that “reciprocal tariffs” would likely be announced “Tuesday or Wednesday.” This decision marks a significant move in the administration’s trade policy, aiming to bolster domestic industries by making imported metals more expensive.
On Friday, when Trump first mentioned the reciprocal tariffs, stock prices dropped severely, mostly due to the growing worry over a rise in inflation over the coming months.
South Korea’s acting president, Choi Sang-mok, hosted a meeting with the country’s top foreign policy and trade officials on Monday to take a look at how Trump’s proposed tariffs on steel and aluminum would affect its industries. Stock prices of major South Korean steelmakers, POSCO and Hyundai Steel, fell at the opening of the market on Monday. South Korea shipped around $4.8 billion of steel to the United States from January to November last year, making up nearly 14% of its global exports of the products during the year.
