President Donald Trump said he is going to double the tariff rate on steel from 25% to 50%, a dramatic increase that could further increase prices for the metal used to make housing, autos and other goods.
Trump was speaking at U.S. Steel’s Mon Valley Works–Irvin Plant in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, to announce investments by Japan’s Nippon Steel.
The price of steel products has increased roughly 16% since he became president, according to the government’s producer price index.
Also Friday, Trump hosted an Oval Office news conference alongside billionaire and Department of Government Efficiency architect Elon Musk. The world’s richest man is leaving his job having accomplished far less than he set out to do, although his tumultuous tenure will likely leave a lasting mark on the federal government.
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Employees join Trump onstage
Trump was joined by several U.S. Steel workers including Jason Zugai, the vice president of the United Steelworkers local union at the Irvin finishing plant that defied the international union in supporting Nippon Steel’s bid to buy U.S. Steel.
Zugai, whose father lost his job in a steel mill years earlier, lobbied local officials and members of Congress to support the deal, believing that U.S. Steel would otherwise shut down its Pittsburgh-area plants eventually.
In his remarks, Zugai told Trump, “I knew you wouldn’t let us down.” He called Nippon Steel’s proposed $14 billion in investments “life changing.”
Nippon Steel’s $14.9 billion bid for U.S. Steel was blocked by then-President Joe Biden on national security grounds before Trump — who had said he would block the transaction, too — changed his mind.
Trump calls it ‘an incredible deal’ for steelworkers
The president has not said whether the deal between Japan-based Nippon and U.S. Steel has been finalized, and there are no details on how much control U.S. Steel will retain. But he nonetheless hailed it as “an incredible deal for American steelworkers.”
Trump said all steelworkers would keep their jobs, there would be no layoffs and all facilities would remain open. He also said every U.S. Steel worker will soon receive a $5,000 bonus.
He said currently operating blast furnaces will remain at full capacity for at least 10 years.
“You’re not going to have to even think about that. Frankly it won’t matter, because they’re going to be here for a long time, a lot longer than that,” Trump said.
Trump to double the tariffs on steel to 50%
The president said he’s going to double the tariff rate on steel to 50%, a dramatic increase that could further push up prices for a metal used to make housing, autos and other goods.
Trump was speaking at U.S. Steel’s Mon Valley Works–Irvin Plant in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, to announce investments by Japan’s Nippon Steel.
The price of steel products has increased roughly 16% since he became president, according to the government’s producer price index
Trump says domestic steel production is a ‘matter of national security’
The president made the remark at a rally in Pennsylvania to celebrate a deal for Japan-based Nippon Steel to invest in U.S. Steel.
Trump said jobs in Pittsburgh’s iron and steel mills were obliterated. He said the country was getting army tanks, boats and ships produced in China.
“The strong steel industry is not just a matter of dignity or prosperity or pride,” he said. “It’s, above all, a matter of national security.”
Trump takes the stage in West Mifflin
The president told a friendly crowd inside the steel fabrication plant that he was there “to celebrate a blockbuster agreement that will ensure this storied American company stays an American company.”
Trump told the workers there is “a lot of money coming your way” and said, “You’re going to stay an American company. You know that, right?”
He thanked Nippon Steel’s chief negotiator Takahiro Mori, without getting into any details of the deal. He also thanked members of his cabinet and Republican lawmakers in attendance.
Trump gets a golden hard hat, peers at large coils of steel backstage
Before taking the stage at a steel plant in Pennsylvania, the president spoke to three workers who gave him a golden hard hat.
Trump smiled as he held it up and pointed at it for nearby reporters to see. But he didn’t put it on his head.
He then chatted with the workers as the group walked past large rolls of steel.
Trump looked in different directions, closely examining the coils. Other products that include steel were on display nearby, including appliances.
Steel workers say details on the deal Trump is set to announce remain scarce
Steel workers attending the president’s rally at a plant in Pennsylvania said they still are not sure what the agreement between U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel will entail.
Clifford Hammonds, a line feeder, said that at the very least it will upgrade an aging and underproducing plant.
“It’s putting money back into the plant to help rebuild it, because this plant is old, it’s falling apart,” he said.
Kevin McNeil, who works in the facility’s hot mill, said the constant rumors of a shutdown are like “living in limbo.”
But McNiel said the assertion that the federal government could prevent layoffs or plant shutdowns in the Nippon Steel acquisition was important in giving workers confidence.
“I think it’s really important to get the government behind us,” McNiel said.
Before beginning his speech, Trump chatted briefly with a small group of workers.
Kristi Noem said an immigrant threatened to kill Trump. The story quickly fell apart
A claim by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that an immigrant threatened the life of the president has begun to unravel.
Noem announced an arrest of a 54-year-old man who was living in the U.S. illegally, saying he had written a letter threatening to kill Trump and would then return to Mexico. The story received a flood of media attention and was highlighted by the White House and Trump’s allies.
But investigators actually believe the man may have been framed so that he would get arrested and be deported from the U.S. before he got a chance to testify in a trial as a victim of assault, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The person could not publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
Law enforcement officials believe the man, Ramon Morales Reyes, never wrote the letter.
As part of the investigation, officials contacted Morales Reyes, asked for a handwriting sample and concluded that his handwriting did not match the threatening letter and that the threat was not credible, the person said. It’s not clear why Homeland Security officials still decided to send a release making that claim.
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