Trump announces 25 percent steel tariff increase to 50 percent as he celebrates US Steel deal
President headed to Pennsylvania to mark U.S. Steel’s ‘partnership’ with Nippon Steel
President Donald Trump announced on Friday that his administration will raise tariffs on foreign steel from 25 percent to 50 percent as he celebrated a deal between U.S. Steel and Japan’s Nippon Steel.
“We're going to bring it from 25 percent to 50 percent, the tariffs on steel into the United States of America, which will even further secure the steel industry in the United States. Nobody is going to get around that,” said Trump.
Trump took to the podium at the U.S. Steel plant a week after indicating that he had cleared a merger between the company and Nippon.
The president spoke at the Irvin Works in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, with both union members and investors listening for answers on what a deal might look like.
Trump said during his rally speech that the headquarters of U.S. Steel would remain in Pittsburgh even amid significant investment from Nippon.
Calling the investment “record-setting,” Trump said the company would make a “$14 billion commitment to the future of” U.S. Steel.
This comes after Trump hosted Elon Musk in one final White House press event as the Tesla billionaire concludes his tenure in the Trump administration.
'The best and strongest steel on earth will forever be made in America'
The president argued that “For generations, the name United States deal was synonymous with greatness, and now it will again be synonymous with greatness.”
“The best and strongest steel on earth will forever be made in America and made in Pennsylvania,” he added.
Trump says he kept 'rejecting' Nippon deal
Trump called the agreement a “big deal.”
“I have to tell you about Nippon. They kept asking me over, and I kept rejecting it. No way, no way, no way. And after about four times, I said, you know, these people really want to do a great thing,” said the president.
“They really want it,” he added. “And they're putting up, you know, billions of dollars, and they're going to do this plant and other plants, and it's great, and you're going to have control. You're going to maintain control. And nobody would put up money like that.”
In pictures: Trump speaks in Pennsylvania
Trump brags about new steel deal
Trump complained that “we were getting our steel from Mexico. We were getting our steel from Canada. We were getting our steel from every place, but right here.”
“It was then that we announced the crown jewel of our steel industry, U.S. Steel, was being sold into foreign hands with no protections for our great steel workers,” he added.
“And I said, there's no way we'll we're going to let that happen,” said Trump.
“By the time I came into office, many feared that the Mon Valley would lose up to 3,000 steel jobs, that US Steel would close, and it was a fixture of the Pittsburgh skyline, it may never live for another week,” he added. “But I promised the people of Western Pennsylvania that I would never, ever let that happen. And as President, I kept that promise. Boy, did I keep that promise.”
WATCH: Trump announces 25 percent increase on steel tariffs to 50 percent
Trump says foreign steel tariffs will be increased
Trump said he was increasing tariffs on foreign steel by 25 percent.
“We're going to bring it from 25 percent to 50 percent, the tariffs on steel into the United States of America, which will even further secure the steel industry in the United States. Nobody is going to get around that,” said the president.
Trump celebrates deal with Nippon
Trump said U.S. Steel would see billions in new investments.
“It’s going to be something even more special when you get all that billions of dollars of new equipment that they're going to be investing right here,” he said.
“Companies all over the world have announced nearly $10 billion in new investments in steel, just in steel alone, but the Nippon investment we're announcing today blows them all away with a record-setting, and this was just heard of. We just came out a little while ago, $14 billion commitment to the future of this company,” he added.
Trump announces additional investments in several states
Trump claimed Nippon would “also invest $2.2 billion to increase steel production here in the Mon Valley works, specifically allocated to Mon Valley, along with $200 million for the Advanced Technology Research and Development Center that's being built already in Pennsylvania.”
“So I want to congratulate you, and in addition, another $7 billion to modernize steel mills, expand ore mines, and build state-of-the-art facilities in Indiana, Minnesota, Alabama, and Arkansas,” he added.
Trump's list of 'sanctuary jurisdictions' includes some that support his immigration policies
Officials in communities from rural to urban and red to blue blasted the Trump administration's list of “sanctuary jurisdictions” with many saying they've been outspoken supporters of the president and his stringent immigration policies.
Officials who back President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown questioned how their jurisdictions wound up on a list of more than 500 that the Department of Homeland Security says are obstructing enforcement. Several communities were misspelled, including Cincinnati, which was spelled Cincinnatti.
Jim Davel, administrator for Shawano County, Wisconsin, said the inclusion of his heavily Republican community must be a clerical error.
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Trump's list of 'sanctuary jurisdictions' includes some that support his immigration policies
Trump claims new investments will lead to thousands of jobs
The president claimed that the new investments would “create and save over 100,000 American jobs, including 14,000 jobs in Pennsylvania.”
“U.S. Steel will maintain all of its current operating blast furnaces at full capacity for a minimum of the next 10 years,” he added.
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