President Trump imposed a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports into the United States with no exceptions or exemptions. The proclamation instituting the tariffs removes exemptions previously granted to Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, the European Union, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom and includes “applying strict ‘melted and poured’ standards, expanding tariffs to include key downstream products, terminating all general approved exclusions, and cracking down on tariff misclassification and duty evasion schemes.” Canada is the top steel supplier to the United States, followed by Brazil, Mexico, South Korea, and Vietnam. The United States also gets about two-thirds of its primary aluminum from Canada. In response to the tariff moves, on Wednesday, the National Association of Home Builders said that President Trump’s actions are “totally counter” to his goal of reducing housing costs and increasing supply and that “consumers will pay for these tariffs in the form of higher home prices.
