The 45th President, Mr. Donald Trump, on Sunday named the imposition of new 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the United States his main initiative in the frame of his policy Document Own the Turn to Protectionism. His declaration, the informal one, made necessary on Monday, takes advantage of the question mark that could possibly increase tension between the U.S. and its reciprocal partners and trading allies. Trump pointed out that this newly proposed set of tariffs is in addition to the existing duties on metals so he makes a clear two hopping of U.S. trade by his “Alliance First” decriminalization of trade.

Supposedly, the previous president, who also disclosed plans for the reciprocal customs on the countries, was given a high grade to the extent that these measures will also “affect everyone” if Iran is called upon to make a deal. This kind of all-in-one approach to trade policy has, however, been a cauldron of economists’ and industrialist’s anxiety on such things as retaliatory actions from other nations and the disruption of supply chains around the world. The act of this five-year countdown of the election period, which is half a year before the 2025 presidential election, made some pundits say that Trump “‘s localization towards production and job issues is the American manufacturing hero.

The announced tariff measures, without becoming physical yet, have already had an earthquake effect on the global markets, causing stock futures to drop and commodity prices to summit on the announcement. U.S. steel and aluminum companies have cautiously greeted the news and are optimistic that it will help them to recover the domestic market. However, the concretes, who are afraid of rising prices and sealing off supplies of aluminum and steel as given the limitations, have suggested that this could have negative implications.

Trump’s tariff plans have stirred up a negative response at an international scale and have been quick enough to have practically no positive responses at all. The EU, Canada, and Mexico, the key producers of Steel and Aluminum, which are majorly exported to the US, threatened a retaliation package in case the tariffs were placed. Currently, the USA is in continuous trade disputes with China, which will be the case even if the president imposes tariffs, thus, this measure is criticized by the other side and it is seen as impeding global economics. It is estimated that the World Trade Organization (WTO) will come under a lot of pressure to decide about tariffs’ legitimacy under the international trading rules.

President Joe Biden has not issued an official response yet as he was caught unawares by President Trump announcing the new tariffs. Nevertheless, sources close to the White House say that the White House officials are looking for the best way to minimize the impact of both economic and diplomatic parts of the tariff proposal. In addition to this, Donald Trump’s recent statement has served as a trigger for new arguments about the benefits and drawbacks of protectionist trade policies from the Republican Party. Some of the members have stated they adhere to President Donald Trump’s point of view, while others feel it may be harmful to the American economy and the consumers and businesses.

Experts predict different long-term consequences of the proposed tariffs. The new tariffs are supposed to reanimate companies in the U.S. Therefore, unemployment is going to be reduced, and dependence on others will not be such a big deal. On the other hand, Ceteris Paribus assumes that the aforementioned metals are essential to the industries aforementioned, the increased input costs are probable to cause cutbacks of jobs in most of the industry manufacturing sectors, offsetting the jobs that will be gained in steel and aluminum companies. At the same time, the inflation effect tends to be one of those reasons why various commodities will be hard to find due to the high prices of that time.

As we get ready for the official announcement of the tariffs, trade negotiations and diplomatic efforts are expected to escalate. It is likely that several countries will ask for exceptions or negotiate different deals to lessen the effect of the tariffs on their economies. The upcoming weeks are of great importance as governments and businesses all over the world gear up for the possible change in the global trade landscape, with the USA once again in the middle of a heated debate regarding protectionism versus free trade.