Washington doubled its tariffs on steel and aluminium imports on Wednesday, when president Donald Trump’s administration also expects trading partners to make “best offers” to avoid other punishing import levies from taking effect in early July.
Maroš Šefčovič, the trade negotiator for the European Union, met US trade representative Jamieson Greer in Paris on Wednesday, with the 27-nation bloc set to make its case for cutting or eliminating threatened tariffs on European imports, Reuters reported.
Late on Tuesday, Trump signed an executive proclamation that activates from Wednesday a hike in the tariffs on imported steel and aluminium to 50% from the 25% rate introduced in March.
“We started at 25 and then after studying the data more, realized that it was a big help, but more help is needed. And so that is why the 50 is starting tomorrow,” White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told a steel industry conference in Washington on Tuesday. The increase came into effect at 12.01am.
The increase applies to all trading partners except Britain, the only country so far that has struck a preliminary trade agreement with the US during a 90-day pause on a wider array of Trump tariffs. The rate for steel and aluminium imports from the UK – which does not rank among the top exporters of either metal to the US – will remain at 25% until at least 9 July.
Good morning and welcome to theUS politicslive blog. I’m Tom Ambrose and I will be bringing you all the latest news lines over the coming hours.
We start with news thatElon Musk, the billionaire tech entrepreneur, opened a new rift withDonald Trumpby denouncing the US president’stax and spending billas a “disgusting abomination”.
Musk’s online outburst could embolden fiscally conservative Republican senators – some of whom have already spoken out – to defy Trump as they continue crucial negotiations on Capitol Hill over the so-called “one big, beautiful bill”.
“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore,” Muskwrote on his X social media platformon Tuesday. “This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”
Musk, who had previously voiced criticism of the proposed legislation, quipping that it could be big or beautiful but not both, added on X: “It will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!) and burden America citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt.”
He continued: “Congress is making America bankrupt.”
A top donor to Trump during last year’s election campaign, Muskdeparted the White Houselast week after steering its so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) with the stated mission of slashing fraud and abuse within federal departments. He has argued that the Republican bill will undermine Doge’s work and drive the US further into debt.
For the full report, see here:
In other developments:
Republican firebrandMarjorie Taylor Greenehas drawn widespread criticism from Democratic colleagues for admitting that not only did she not read Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill before voting for it, but she would have voted against it had she read thoroughly.The White Housegloatedon social media aboutthe arrestsof the wife and five children ofMohamed Sabry Soliman, the suspected Boulder attacker, and joked about providing them with “six one-way tickets”.
In the 48 hours since the firebomb attack in Boulder, Colorado, on a demonstration in support of Israelis held hostage in Gaza, Republicanspoliticized the attack, attempting to blame Democrats, including the state’s multiple Jewish leaders.
Democrats denounced the Trump administration’s “cruel”decisionto rescindhealth department guidanceissued in the wake of the 2022 Dobbs decision, striking down the right to an abortion, that required hospitals to provide abortions to women in medical emergencies even in state’s with local bans on the procedure.
Millions of legal immigrants may be left unable to work after the US Social Security Administration quietly instituted a rule change to stop automatically issuing themsocial securitynumbers.
A US judge on Tuesday ruled the US Bureau of Prisons must keep providing transgender inmates gender-affirming care, despite an executive order Donald Trump signed on his first day back in office to halt funding for such care.