Quick review, the top 10 Exporters of Steel to the US are
- Canada 16.7 percent
- Brazil 13.2 percent
- South Korea 9.7 percent
- Mexico 9.4 percent
- Russia 8.1 percent
- Turkey 5.6 percent
- Japan 4.9 percent
- Germany 3.7 percent
- Taiwan 3.2 percent
- China 2.9 percent
Canada and Mexico were exempt the day of the announcement, today a few more countries were also exempt: the entire European Union, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, and South Korea. Maybe the steel tariff was more about a detraction from other news than about steel?
Today Trump also announced a tariffs valued $60 billion on Chinese goods, but these will only take effect after a 60 day consultation period — to give industry lobbyists a chance to water down a proposed target list.