In March 2018, Trump imposed a 25% tariff on steel and a 10% tariff on aluminum imports from most countries, covering roughly 4.1% of U.S. imports. These were later extended to the European Union, Canada, and Mexico in June 2018.

Exemptions were initially granted to countries like Argentina, Australia, and Brazil, but Trump closed these loopholes in his second term.

The tariffs led to reduced steel and aluminum imports (down nearly a third from 2016 to 2020), job gains in the metals industry, and over $10 billion in new mill investments.

Impact: U.S. steel producers invested over $15.7 billion in new facilities, creating at least 3,200 jobs. However, industries using steel and aluminum faced higher costs, and trading partners like Canada and China retaliated with tariffs on U.S. goods.

In March 2018, Trump signed a memorandum imposing tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese goods, citing intellectual property theft. Tariffs started at 25% on $34 billion of goods in July 2018, with an additional $16 billion in August.

By July 2018, the U.S. proposed a 10% tariff on an additional $200 billion of Chinese goods, escalating the U.S.-China trade war.

Impact: Reduced imports from China, stimulated some U.S. manufacturing, and led to a bilateral economic agreement, though it sparked Chinese retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products like fruit and pork.