May 30 (UPI) — President Donald on Friday announced a 50% tariff on steel made outside the United States as he touted a partnership between Japan’s Nippon Steel Corporation and the United States Steel Corporation during a rally near Pittsburgh.
Calling it the “heart of U.S. Steel,” Trump spoke at the company’s headquarters in Allegany County. The indoor rally began around 5:30 p.m. and ended one hour later.
Steelworkers wearing hard hats sat behind him, with some called to the podium to praise the deal and Trump.
During the appearance, he announced the tariff change.
“We are going to be imposing a 25% increase, we’re going to bring it from 25% to 50% the tariffs on steel into the United States of America,” the president said to cheers.
On Feb. 11, Trump restored a 25% tariff on steel and increased the aluminum tariff from 10% to 25%.
Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, the European Union, Ukraine and Britain had received exemptions, “which prevented the tariffs from being effective,” according to the order.
He touted the efforts of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessett and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who were on hand.
One week ago, Trump announced a “planned partnership between the two steel giants, promising the U.S. Steel headquarters would remain on American soil rather than shift to Japan.
Trump said the deal includes “vital protections to ensure that all steelworkers will keep their jobs and all facilities in the United States will remain open and thriving.”
Writing on Truth Social, Trump said the new tariffs will take effect June 4.
Also, he said U.S. Steel would also keep all of its blast furnace facilities at full capacity for at least the next decade and vowed that there would be “no layoffs and no outsourcing whatsoever.”
Trump, who opposed the acquisition during the 2024 campaign, is now touting the $14 billion investment that the president said would create at least 70,000 jobs.
“You’re going to be very happy,” Trump said Friday. “There’s a lot of money coming your way.”
Every U.S. steelworker would be receiving a $5,000 bonus, he said.
At one time, U.S. Steel dominated production worldwide, but over the years it has “melted away just like butter melts away” as China mainly poured what he said was “garbage steel” into the country.
“If you don’t have steel, you don’t have a country,” Trump said in citing national security.
U.S. Steel, which was founded in 1901, has about 22,000 employees with revenue of $15.6 billion in 2024. Nippon, which traces its roots to Japan Iron & Steel Co. in 1934, has about 113,640 workers with revenue of $43 billion in 2019.
This week, CNBC reported Tokyo-based Nippon Steel will pay $55 per share to acquire U.S. Steel, citing sources familiar with the deal.
Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel shares rose $0.59 or 1.11% to $53.82 at the close of the U.S. Stock Exchange on Friday afternoon.
The two steel companies were working on a deal before Trump took office on Jan. 20.
Days before leaving office in January, former President Joe Biden blocked Nippon Steel’s proposed $14.1 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel.
Biden cited national security concerns when rejecting the deal involving the second-largest American steel producer and Japan’s largest.
Both firms later filed separate federal lawsuits in the District of Columbia and in Pennsylvania to move the deal ahead, citing “unlawful political influences.”
In April, Trump issued an executive order directing a review of the acquisition by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a branch of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. U.S. Steel stock surged at the time, climbing more than 10% in a single day.
The president has said the deal will have a major positive economic effect.
The deal “will create at least 70,000 jobs, and add $14 Billion Dollars to the U.S. Economy. The bulk of that Investment will occur in the next 14 months,” Trump said on Truth Social last week.
He also teased Friday’s rally at U.S. Steel’s Irvin Works factory.
“President Trump is a bold leader and businessman who knows how to get the best deal for America, American workers and American manufacturing,” Trump said in a statement to The Hill on Friday.
“U.S. Steel greatly appreciates President Trump’s leadership and personal attention to the futures of thousands of steelworkers and our iconic company.”
Trump touted other companies increasing production in the United States.
During his speech, sometimes ad-libbed, he ventured into other areas, noting undocumented immigrants coming into the nation in “open borders.” He also bragged about winning all the battleground states during the 2024 election, including Pennsylvania.
He blasted Biden and called Democrats “lunatics.”
He voiced his support for the U.S. budget bill, which is moving through Congress, including extension of the 2017 tax cuts, no taxes on tips or overtime, deductions on loan interest for U.S.-made cars and permanent extension of the $2,000 per child credit. He didn’t mention Medicaid cuts and other program reductions.
Former Steelers running back Rocky Bleier presented Trump with a Steelers 47 jersey as two current players also were called up to speak: quarterback Mason Rudolph and safety Miles Killbrew.
The rally was about 35 miles south of Butler, where he survived an assassination attempt on July 13, two days before the National Republican Convention in Milwaukee, Wis.