On March 8, 2018, US president Donald Trump issued two proclamations to adjust US imports of aluminum and steel from all countries except Canada and Mexico, key regional allies and trade partners. President Trump asserted that a 25 percent tariff on steel “articles” and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum articles are necessary for the US to develop its domestic steel and aluminum industries and to protect and create jobs.
- The US is the world's largest importer of the steel and aluminum articles covered by the proclamations. The import value of steel articles has declined twofold in the last two years, yet remains 32 percent greater than in 2009 and double the value in 2003. In contrast, the value of aluminum articles imported during the last three years has been increasing and is now twice the level in 2000 while remaining below the most recent peak in 2006.
- Canada and Mexico, which are exempted from the tariffs, constitute 32 percent of total US imports of steel and aluminum articles. China accounts for only 8 percent of US imports of the same steel and aluminum articles.
- According to the Global Trade Alert (GTA), the US implemented 47 percent of harmful interventions in the steel industry in the period since the start of the global financial crisis. China, however, has made more harmful interventions in the aluminum industry—about 5 percent of total events globally—than any other country, according to GTA.
The US government will potentially collect $7.4 billion a year from the new tariffs, according to the definitions specified in the presidential proclamations and data from the United Nations Statistics Division.
- Imports of affected steel articles to the US constituted $23.5 billion in 2016, which was nearly half of all US iron and steel imports in 2016 and about 1 percent of total US merchandise imports that year.
- US imports of aluminum articles constituted less at about $15 billion in 2016, or approximately 80 percent of total US aluminum imports.
The winners and losers among US trading partners vary based on the specific articles.
Steel articles. The top 5 exporters of steel articles to the US are Canada, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Japan, and Brazil, however, article-by-article trade dynamics modify the impact of the tariffs.
- The largest categories of steel articles affected by the new tariffs are flat-rolled products, tubes, pipes, and hollow profiles of iron or non-alloy steel.
- Brazil is the largest exporter of semi-finished products of iron or non-alloy steel to the US.
Aluminum articles. Canada is also among the top 5 exporters of aluminum articles to the US, joined by China, Russia, the UAE, and Mexico.
- The largest affected category among aluminum articles is unwrought aluminum.
- China is the largest exporter of aluminum plates, sheets, and strip to the US.
Download our latest US ECONOMY data brief
The US economy has extensive influence on global economic dynamics. Download our US Economy Data Brief to stay up to date with easy access to the most critical data from leading sources.
Subscribe for updates
Let Knoema deliver expertly-designed visualizations directly to your inbox.
Related Data Insights
United States: The World's Newest Major Exporter of Crude Oil
In June, US crude oil exports reached historic levels at nearly 2.2 million barrels per day (b/d), a level similar to that of Nigeria and Iran. From 1975 until late 2015, a federal ban on the export of US crude oil severely restricted crude oil exports to all countries except Canada. By lifting the ban, the US Government has transformed the United States into a major exporter of crude oil and a force that is reshaping global oil markets. To date in 2018, the United States has averaged more than 1.7 million b/d of crude oil exports while continuing to import an average of 7.9 million b/d.Although Canada remains an...
An International Trade Perspective on the War in Syria
The Syrian Civil War is the largest ongoing military conflict in the world, already claiming a total of at least 167,000 lives* since civil unrest first erupted in March 2011 on the heels of the Arab Spring. Human life is one measure of a wars devastation. Today, we examine the devastation of war from an economic perspective: international trade. The disruption in Syrian trade has already lowered its ranking globally from the 88th largest exporter in 2011 to the 141st in 2015.Syria experienced the world's second largest loss of total foreign trade from 2011 to 2015, with exports decreasing by 88 percent and imports by 72...
Export Concentration Index: A Measure of Economic Vulnerability
The concentration index of exports estimates a country’s reliance on a limited group of commodities as its primary source of foreign exchange income. Ranging from 0 (perfect diversification) to 1 (concentrated on a single product)*, a comparison of index scores to the contribution of natural resources to GDP worldwide shows that countries that are resource-rich tend to have less diversified export bases.Last year Iraq’s export concentration index reached 0.97, driven by its export concentration in mineral fuels, namely oil. Other oil exporters—including Angola, Iran, Kuwait, and Nigeria, among others—likewise have high...
Taiwan: Trade Profile Shaped by Bilateral Trade with China
Taiwan, an island off the southwestern coast of China, is the most populous state and largest economy that is not a member of the United Nations. Today, Taiwan is home to 23.7 million people, a population comparable to that of Xinjiang, Beijing, and Shanghai. Despite a recent economic slowdown, Taiwan's GDP per capita stands at $25,000, nearly triple that of China. In terms of PPP, Taiwan ranks 77th in the world; China ranks 108th. While Taiwan is an economic success, the island remains economically dependent on China. Partner dependency and commodity concentration could prove troublesome for Taiwan if mainland-island...