Trump signed an executive order, with a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum taking effect on June 4th

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday (June 3rd), raising tariffs on steel and aluminium from 25% to 50%, fulfilling his promise to increase import taxes to assist domestic manufacturers in the United States.

Bloomberg reported that the US steel and aluminum tariffs will officially take effect at 00:01 US time on Wednesday (4th) (12:01 Singapore time on Wednesday).

Trump said that this was out of the need to protect national security.

The White House wrote in an executive order released on social media platform X: "The previously implemented tariffs have not yet enabled domestic industries to reach and maintain the necessary capacity utilization rate, which is crucial for the sustained and healthy development of the industries and the expected defense demand."

Raising the previously implemented tariff levels will provide greater support for these industries and reduce or eliminate the threat posed by imported steel and aluminum products and their derivatives to the national security of the United States.

Under this executive order, the tariff rate imposed by the United States on metal imports from the United Kingdom will remain at 25% to allow the two countries to set new tariffs or quotas before the July 9 deadline.

According to a framework agreement reached by the United States and the United Kingdom in May, one of the key contents lies in efforts to lower trade barriers for steel, but the two sides have not yet reached an agreement on the extent of tariff reduction for British steel. This agreement has not yet come into effect either.