Trump Says Tough Tariffs Are Coming, Riling Rivals and Allies

President Donald Trump said the U.S. would slap tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to protect national security, prompting threats of retaliation from Canada to China.

Trump said he would impose tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum for “a long period of time,” and he expected to sign a formal order next week. He didn’t elaborate on the details of the planned action, including whether any products or countries would be exempted.

“You’re going to have protection for the first time in a long time,” Trump told metals industry executives at a meeting in the White House Thursday.

Asian steel and aluminum stocks took a hammering Friday morning, adding to declines that came before the tariffs were first reported Thursday. Earlier, the S&P 500 Index slumped to session lows, U.S. stocks for companies that consume the metals like Ford Motor Co. fell, and Treasuries climbed as investors reacted to the news, while shares of U.S. steel and aluminum producers jumped.

China didn’t have an immediate official reaction Friday. The U.S. measures “overturn the international trade order,” Wen Xianjun, vice chairman of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, said in a statement. “Other countries, including China, will take relevant retaliatory measures.”

Li Xinchuang, the vice chairman of China Iron and Steel Association, called the move “stupid.”

U.S. allies, seeing their industries threatened, responded with bafflement and dismay.

“Steel and aluminum imports from Japan, which is an ally, do not affect U.S. national security at all,” Japan’s Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko told reporters in Tokyo Friday. “I would like to convey that to the U.S. when I have an opportunity.”

Canada — the biggest foreign supplier of steel to the U.S. — said the measures were unacceptable while the European Union vowed to “react firmly” with World Trade Organization-compliant countermeasures in the next few days. Australian Trade Minister Steve Ciobo called the move “disappointing” and said his country is seeking an exemption.

The punitive measures would level the unfair playing field that has persisted for years, and make it easier for American companies to expand and hire workers, Trump said.

Read more: How steel became cast as a security issue

U.S. companies from beer brewer MillerCoors to candymaker Hershey Co., which use aluminum for manufacturing and packaging, said operations would be hurt by the tariffs.

“We buy as much domestic can sheet aluminum as is available, however, there simply isn’t enough supply to satisfy the demands of American beverage makers like us,” MillerCoors said in a tweet. “American workers and American consumers will suffer as a result of this misguided tariff.”

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