China at the Center of Trump’s New Metal Tariffs, Former Trade Adviser Says
Former White House trade adviser Kate Kalutkiewicz has stated that China’s role in the global metals market is the primary reason behind former US President Donald Trump’s latest tariffs on steel and aluminum, Bloomberg reports.
Trump recently signed an order imposing 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports, regardless of their origin. The move, he argues, is necessary to strengthen US production and protect American jobs. However, Kalutkiewicz believes the main target of these tariffs is China, which has been accused of flooding the global market with excess metal, harming US manufacturers.
“They almost entirely relate to China, and China’s non-market policies and practices which have enabled this global glut,” Kalutkiewicz told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
The tariffs are set to take effect on March 12.
The Trump administration has also increased pressure on Mexico to impose its own tariffs on Chinese imports, according to sources cited by Bloomberg News.
Canada, meanwhile, took similar action in October, imposing 25% tariffs on a range of Chinese steel and aluminum products to counter concerns over market oversupply.
Despite these trade tensions, Kalutkiewicz remains optimistic about the future of the US-Mexico-Canada trade alliance. She highlighted that the renegotiation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in 2020 reinforced economic ties between the three countries.
“The North American economic relationship is one of the most, if not the most, important relationships in the world,” she said.
According to Kalutkiewicz, Trump’s trade approach is focused on maximizing leverage over US trading partners to secure favorable deals.
“Trump’s goal of imposing ‘maximum pain’ on Canada and Mexico is to ensure that the US gets the best deal,” she explained.
Countries affected by the new tariffs, including Canada, Mexico, and China, have already begun planning retaliatory measures. Canada, for example, has announced tariffs targeting $107 billion worth of US goods, while China has hit back with tariffs on $14 billion worth of American exports.
