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Tariff increase announced at Pennsylvania steel plant

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Shares of steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs ( CLF ) surge

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Tariffs take effect on June 4

(Adds share price jump of Cleveland-Cliffs ( CLF ) in paragraph 4;

background on tariffs in paragraph 11)

By Jeff Mason

WEST MIFFLIN, Pennsylvania, May 30 (Reuters) - U.S.

President Donald Trump on Friday said he planned to increase

tariffs on foreign imports of steel to 50% from 25%, ratcheting

up pressure on global steel producers and deepening his trade

war.

"We are going to be imposing a 25% increase. We're going to

bring it from 25% to 50% -- the tariffs on steel into the United

States of America, which will even further secure the steel

industry in the United States," he said at a rally in

Pennsylvania.

Trump announced the tariff increase at a speech given just

outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he was talking up an

agreement between Nippon Steel ( NISTF ) and U.S. Steel.

Trump said the $14.9 billion deal, like the tariff increase,

will help keep jobs for steel workers in the U.S.

Shares of steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs Inc ( CLF ) surged 26%

after the market close as investors bet the new levies will help

its profits.

The doubling of steel levies - to take effect on June 4 -

further intensifies Trump's global trade war and came just hours

after he accused China of violating an agreement with the U.S.

to mutually roll back tariffs and trade restrictions for

critical minerals.

Trump made the announcement at U.S. Steel's Mon Valley

Works, a steel plant that symbolizes both the one-time strength

and the decline of U.S. manufacturing power as the Rust Belt's

steel plants and factories lost business to international

rivals. Closely contested Pennsylvania is also a major prize in

presidential elections.

The steel tariffs, along with levies on aluminum, were among

the earliest put into effect by Trump when he returned to office

in January. The tariffs of 25% on most steel and aluminum

imported to the U.S. went into effect in March, and he had

briefly threatened a 50% levy on Canadian steel but ultimately

backed off.

Under the so-called Section 232 national security authority,

the import taxes include both raw metals and derivative products

as diverse as stainless steel sinks, gas ranges, air conditioner

evaporator coils, horseshoes, aluminum frying pans and steel

door hinges.

The total 2024 import value for the 289 product categories

came to $147.3 billion with nearly two-thirds aluminum and

one-third steel, according to Census Bureau data retrieved

through the U.S. International Trade Commission's Data Web

system.

By contrast, Trump's first two rounds of punitive tariffs on

Chinese industrial goods in 2018 during his first term totaled

$50 billion in annual import value.

The U.S. is the world's largest steel importer, excluding

the European Union, with a total of 26.2 million tons of

imported steel in 2024, according to the Department of Commerce.

As a result, the new tariffs will likely increase steel prices

across the board, hitting industry and consumers alike.