Donald Trump has resumed his aggressive tariff agenda by announcing a dramatic increase in levies on steel and aluminium imports. The increase, from 25% to a staggering 50%, has once again rocked the markets as businesses question how much these chaotic measures are rooted in sound economic policy. While President Trump insists that the aim is to “secure the future of the American steel industry”, the rest of the world is less convinced.
His latest move is disquieting global markets, blindsiding businesses, and triggering retaliatory threats from confused allies who are now increasingly exasperated. In the midst of all this, the UK has been granted a so-called “carve-out”. British metals will remain subject to the original 25% tariff, so we’re technically no worse off. But let’s not kid ourselves – celebrating this exemption as a diplomatic triumph is a little pathetic. Especially when you consider that we’re not exactly a major steel exporter to the US in the first place.
Trump’s trade moves are less the product of a coherent economic doctrine and more like a game of high-stakes whack-a-mole. For our politicians to interpret this moment as a post-Brexit victory misses the wider, and far more serious, picture. The volatility of Trump’s strategy leaves businesses, including those in America, paralysed.
Companies that rely on steel and aluminium imports, such as Independent Can Co. in Maryland, which manufactures decorative tins, are halting investments, raising prices, and reconsidering their product lines altogether. When tariffs make plastic boxes more viable than metal ones, that’s not industrial revival. That’s strategic regression.
And it’s not just cookie tins at stake. At Drill Rod & Tool Steels in Illinois, the director of supply chain management, Chad Bartusek, now faces nearly double the cost in tariffs for importing Austrian-made steel rods that the US simply doesn’t produce.
That’s not national security. That’s economic masochism. In a now-familiar pattern, the markets are skittish, the economists are alarmed, and Trump is playing to the gallery.
A 2020 analysis found that his first-term tariffs created roughly 1,000 steel jobs at the cost of 75,000 jobs elsewhere. Erica York of the Tax Foundation expects this new round of tariffs to be even more destructive, especially since intermediate inputs like steel are embedded in everything from cars to skyscrapers.
It’s a textbook example of policy that scores political points while undermining productivity and employment.
So yes, we’re technically off the hook, for now. But to use this as an excuse for complacency would be spectacularly short-sighted. Instead of basking in temporary tariff immunity, Britain should be treating this episode as a wake-up call.
Our steel industry is already in a precarious position, and its decline can’t credibly be blamed on one man across the pond. If we want to be globally competitive, especially outside of the EU, we must prioritise self-reliance, efficiency, and, crucially, low energy costs.
The Government’s reaction to this “carve-out” has been oddly smug, as though we’d outmanoeuvred the world’s most erratic chess player. But Trump’s tactics are transparent: slap on tariffs, then dial them back selectively to reward cooperation or leverage more favourable trade terms.
The EU is in his sights now, with the 50% tariff now coming into effect. This, Trump hopes, will force Brussels to the table. On Truth Social, he accused the bloc of being “very difficult to deal with”, which, in fairness, is an improvement on his usual diplomatic finesse.
Still, not everyone’s rolling over. A recent ruling by three federal judges on the United States Court of International Trade blocked some of Trump’s worldwide tariffs, declaring them unlawful. The decision was prompted by a group of US businesses that argued that the president had exceeded his authority.
The White House, naturally, has appealed. Because nothing says “market stability” like a protracted constitutional standoff over the separation of powers.
None of this inspires confidence. For UK businesses and policymakers alike, the bigger message here is that we’re operating in an increasingly unstable global trading environment.
Tariffs imposed (and lifted) on a whim, trade deals held hostage to political showmanship, and allies treated like adversaries. It’s all a bit exhausting. Worse still, it’s becoming the new normal.
So yes, let’s bank the short-term relief that we’re not facing 50% tariffs. But let’s also remember that the man who promised to drain the swamp has instead filled the global trading pool with piranhas. Our best bet?
Don’t wait around for the next feeding frenzy. Build a leaner, smarter, more resilient economy that can withstand the shockwaves, whether they come from Brussels or Mar-a-Lago.
