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Why Trump’s new tariffs are such a strange idea

3 12
11.02.2025
An ironworker with pliers wraps wire around the rebar falsework for the helix structure during the construction of a new bridge on October 30, 2021, in Los Angeles. | Gary Leonard/Getty Images

Donald Trump announced Monday that the US will impose a 25 percent tariff on all imports of steel and aluminum.

The president has a habit of declaring radical changes to trade policy, only to swiftly walk them back. Last week, Trump postponed his long-promised 25 percent tariffs on all imports from Mexico and Canada, after reaching agreements with both countries over border security.

But there’s a reason to think that Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs will stick: He implemented a nearly identical policy during his first term.

In 2018, Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum, exempting only a small number of countries. A little over a year later, Trump

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