Tariffs may be 'a beautiful word' but they are also heavy stones US is dropping on its feet

In a move that risks a multi-front trade war, US President Donald Trump raised US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports on Monday to a flat 25 percent. The tariff rate, to go into effect on March 12, will target millions of tons of steel and aluminum imports from countries such as Canada, Mexico, Brazil, the Republic of Korea and China.

"It's 25 percent without exceptions or exemptions," President Trump said as he signed the executive orders for the levies.

The move comes as an extension of Section 232 tariffs Trump instigated to protect domestic steel and aluminum producers on national security grounds during his first term in office in 2018, and despite the World Trade Organization ruling in December 2022 that those earlier tariffs violated global trade rules.