Trump approves toughest steel and aluminum tariffs

President Donald Trump told trustees that he wants to impose the harshest tariffs on rolled steel and aluminum imports recommended by the Commerce Department.

Trump said he wants to secure a tariff of 24 percent on steel imports, the heaviest of the three options presented to him in a report in January. It also considers up to a 10 percent duty on all aluminum entering the US, more than 2.5 percent higher than the most stringent recommendations from the Commerce Department.

AK Steel Holding Corp. jumped more than 6 percent in late trading to join other metal producers Steel Dynamics Inc., Nucor Corp., Alcoa Corp. and Century Aluminum Co., which also moved forward.

Tariffs on such widely used goods could provoke retaliation from states, including China and allies such as Canada, and potentially drive up prices on everything from cars to brewers. Some political analysts and economists have suggested that the president will take a targeted approach to tariffs, and he is under pressure from members of his own Republican party to refrain from measures that could thwart other countries and disrupt supply chains.