U.S. President Trump calls for 24 per cent tariff on all steel imports

U.S. President Donald Trump wants to impose a global tariff of 24 per cent on steel imports, the most severe of three options presented to him in a report in January, reports BNN.

These are "the harshest tariffs on steel and aluminum imports recommended by the Commerce Department," reports the popular business news outlet.

The move is a measure to fulfil Trump's election promise to revive U.S. coal and steel industries and he's utilizing a seldom-used section on national security (Section 232) in an American 1962 Trade Act, which allows the president to impose tariffs without congressional approval to pass steel and aluminum tariffs.

Trump has until April 11 to make a decision on steel tariffs and many within his administration are calling for a more 'surgical' approach to steel tariffs that would be less likely to alienate allies such as Canada, its biggest steel supplier. 

Another, more surgical, option outlined by the Commerce Department report includes a tariff of at least 53 per cent on steel imports from a select number of countries, including China, India and Brazil, while other countries would have their shipments capped at the amount they exported to the U.S. last year.

To read more on this, please click here