US President Donald Trump’s decision to slap 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports has put producers in Argentina on red alert.
Trump on Monday signed executive orders to impose fresh tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from March 12, triggering a flurry of reactions and promises to protect workers from other nations.
The move prompted concern among local industrialists, who could see their exports to the world’s leading economy take a serious hit.
Projections for the year were for trade of some US$650 million to the US. With prices now set to soar, it is almost certain that sales will fall sharply.
Domestic giants Tenaris and Aluar, which export part of their production to the United States, are likely to be heavily affected. Steel producers Acíndar and Ternium, which like Tenaris is part of the Techint Group, will also be impacted.
Aluar, which produces aluminum at its plant in Puerto Madryn, Chubut Province, sends around 40 percent of its exports to the United States, according to a report by the Noticias Argentinas news agency. Last year, the firm’s trade with the US totalled US$530 million.
In Monday’s executive order, Trump said «all imports of aluminium articles and derivative aluminium articles from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Mexico, EU countries, and the UK» will be subject to additional tariffs.
The same countries are named in his executive order on steel, along with Brazil, Japan and South Korea.
«I’m simplifying our tariffs on steel and aluminium,» Trump said in the Oval Office. «It’s 25 percent without exceptions or exemptions.»
Canada and Mexico – which Trump has already threatened with tariffs – are the biggest steel importers to the United States, according to US trade data.
The new steel and aluminium tariffs will apply to all countries that export these metals to the United States.
Earlier, Trump also promised that Washington would impose tariffs on imports of computer chips, pharmaceuticals, copper, oil and gas in mid-February.
Macri reversal, Milei too?
In his first term in office, Trump imposed tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminium respectively, though Argentina’s then-president Mauricio Macri managed to cut a deal that introduced a duty-free quota of 180,000 tons.
It remains to be seen if President Javier Milei, who has a good relationship with Trump, will be able to minimise the impact of the new measures.
Speaking Monday in a television interview, Milei said that Trump is not a “protectionist” but rather used tariffs as “a negotiating tool.”
«Trump is not a protectionist. Trump uses trade policy as an instrument of geopolitics,” argued the head of state, as he was quizzed over new steel tariffs.
“Look at what he did with Mexico, what he did with Canada and Colombia. And he does it with China,” said Milei.
The La Libertad Avanza leader again reiterated his hopes of sealing a free-trade agreement with the North American giant, a move he said would eradicate the problem.
«My priority is the free-trade agreement with the United States,» he said.
In comments to Perfil, international analyst Marcelo Elizondo said that Argentina exports to the United States last year totalled around US$500 million of aluminium and US$100 million of steel and iron.
— TIMES/NA/PERFIL
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