Commerce department expected to add about 700 more items with steel content to levy list at request of US firms
Businesses around the world are steeling themselves for another round of Donald Trump’s tariffs, this time on goods ranging from bicycles to baking trays, as US industry embraces a call for more products to tax on import.
Small, medium and large American companies have asked the US Department of Commerce to add about 700 more items to an August list of 407 products already facing extra tariffs because of their steel content, which hit items such as Ikea tables with metal nuts and bolts and German combine harvesters.
The demands are ringing alarm bells across Europe where industry leaders are fearful of a rolling and growing list of “steel derivatives” that will now face levies because they contain the metal.
Manufacturers across Europe had reluctantly reconciled themselves to higher border taxes under the new trade frameworks struck with Trump. The UK’s deal included a baseline tariff on all goods of 10% and a 25% one for steel, while the EU agreed rates of 25% and 50% respectively.
