The Cleveland Cliffs Cleveland Works steel mill facility in Cleveland, Ohio, on Oct. 20, 2024.
Dustin Franz | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Major steel stocks jumped Monday after President Donald Trump hiked tariffs tied to the metal.
Shares of mining company Cleveland-Cliffs popped roughly 22% following the announcement, while Steel Dynamics jumped more than 13% and Nucor was up more than 12%. The VanEck Steel ETF (SLX) rose more than 3%.
Trump said Friday at a Pennsylvania rally he would double tariffs on steel imports to 50% from 25%, a move that inflamed trade tensions again and drew criticism from global partners.
“We are going to be imposing a 25% increase. We’re going to bring it from 25% to 50% — the tariffs on steel into the United States of America, which will even further secure the steel industry in the United States,” Trump said.
Steel stocks surge
Europe responded to the higher tariffs by saying on Saturday that Trump’s plan “undermines ongoing efforts to reach a negotiated solution” and that “the (European Union) is prepared to impose countermeasures.”
Trump on Friday also hailed what he called a “blockbuster agreement” between U.S. Steel and Japanese steel giant Nippon Steel.
He promised during the rally that U.S. Steel would be “controlled by the USA” and that no layoffs would occur. But Trump has refrained from calling the deal a merger, previously saying the “partnership” will create at least 70,000 jobs in the U.S. economy.