United States President Donald Trump announced new 25% tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum beginning next week, leading to a crypto market crash.
Bitcoin’s (BTC) price exceeded $100,000 on Friday, but at time of writing trades under $97,000 again after Trump’s announcement. Bitcoin currently trades 1.64% lower than seven days ago, while Ethereum trades at about $2,650 after losing 1.4% over the same period.
Trump announced the new tariffs to reporters while onboard Air Force One earlier today. He also promised to reciprocate any retaliatory tariffs imposed on the United States as well:
“And very simply, it’s, if they charge us, we charge them.”
United States’ top steel sources are Canada, Brazil and Mexico, followed by South Korea and Vietnam. When it comes to aluminum Canada is the top provider for the U.S., being responsible for 79% of the nation’s total imports in the first 11 montsh of 2024. Canadian Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne highlighted that United States industry will also see the consequences of this decision in a recent X post:
“Let’s all be clear. Canadian steel and aluminum support key industries in the U.S. from defence, shipbuilding and auto. This is making North America more competitive and secure. We will continue to stand up for Canada, our workers, and our industries.”
Trump, on the other hand, promised that the tariffs would lead to domestic steel production growing. He said of U.S. Steel:
“Tariffs are going to make it very successful again, and I think it has good management.”
Those are not entirely unprecedented actions by Trump. During his first term he imposed tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum.
The first time around, he also granted several trading partners including Canada, Mexico and Brazil duty-free exemptions. Biden also negotiated duty-free import quotas from Britain, the European Union and Japan — the impact of the new tariffs on those quotas is so far still unclear.
