Month: March 2025

On his way to the White House in 2016, President Donald Trump specialized in shattering conventional wisdom and challenging the status quo.

To this day, our president believes Americans are getting ripped off by unfair trade practices where country after country has gotten comfortable taking advantage of the United States because of our unparalleled generosity and wealth. So, he’s focused like a laser beam on fair trade and leveling the playing field so our manufacturing workers can compete with foreign competitors and prosper. President Trump has declared that by implementing targeted tariffs on foreign countries that hurt American workers, “our country will be extremely liquid and rich again.”

Having served as President Trump’s Deputy Campaign Manager in 2016 and as an adviser to his campaigns in 2020 and 2024, I was delighted to see him reelected in 2024 with a huge mandate to fight for our manufacturing sector and usher in a “Golden Age” in America. Make no mistake: Our 45th and 47th presidents are determined to finish the revolution on American trade policy that he began by fixing the mistakes of the Biden-Harris years and strengthening Section 232 tariffs on aluminum and steel.

As part of the shock and awe action of his first one hundred days in office, President Trump signed new proclamations to bolster the fair-trade policy introduced during his historic first term in office. By elevating tariffs to 25% on aluminum and restoring the 25% levy on steel, the Trump administration is making clear that they have the backs of thousands of American aluminum and steel workers and are resolute in their mission to create many new manufacturing jobs.

While the globalists in the economic establishment and mainstream media react to targeted tariffs with their customary Trump-deranged hysteria, American manufacturers reacted with both joy and relief because President Trump is making good on another campaign promise. It must be repeated again and again—because the fake news media refuses to tell the truth—that this president supports robust trade, but it must be fair and reciprocal. This is the linchpin of the policy.

Under the “America Last” mindset of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, foreign countries were free to exploit loopholes in Section 232 to flood the domestic aluminum and steel industry with cheap products.

Canada, Mexico, Australia, and Argentina locked arms with D.C. swamp creatures to secure exclusions and exemptions to the detriment of American workers. Australia’s aluminum exports into the U.S. have increased sharply. At the same time, China and Russia have used loopholes to move aluminum through Mexico and Canada to flood our market. As a result of cheating by foreign countries, Alcoa announced the permanent closing of its smelter in Washington State. Other closures have included a Century Aluminum plant in Kentucky, which idled production in 2022, and Magnitude 7 Metals in Missouri, which was forced to close in 2024.

Many globalists claim that the aluminum tariffs will raise costs for consumers. This is the same stale argument we heard in the first Trump administration; it wasn’t true then and it isn’t true now.

The tariffs didn’t impact the amount of steel or aluminum consumed, didn’t weaken the economy, and didn’t cause massive job losses. Conversely, capacity utilization for aluminum increased during President Trump’s first term, and major investments in the steel industry have been announced.

While some globalist companies attack President Trump’s targeted tariffs, some tell their investors that “if all countries are getting a tariff, the impact for us is zero.” And while some globalist leaders who own aluminum smelters in Canada attack President Trump’s 25% tariff, the reality is that he was elected to bring back good-paying manufacturing jobs to American plants, and this is a commitment he plans to keep. As President Trump has said time and time again, America is done subsidizing Canada and the rest of the world.

Aluminum and steel manufacturing are critical to America’s defense industrial base. Continued dependence on foreign suppliers leaves us vulnerable and jeopardizes our national security interests.

President Trump is putting America first, which means a do-it-all, do-it-now policy supporting domestic manufacturing, no more loopholes, no more exemptions, and no more of the failed Biden agenda. America’s “Golden Age” will only be achieved with a strong and stable industrial base. President Trump’s aluminum and steel tariffs will help save America and make our country great again.

David Bossie is the president of Citizens United and served as a senior adviser to the Trump 2024 and 2020 campaigns. Bossie served as deputy campaign manager for Donald J. Trump for President in 2016 and deputy executive director for the Trump Transition Team.

President Donald Trump specialized in shattering conventional wisdom and challenging the status quo on his road to the White House in 2016. To this day, our president believes Americans are getting ripped off by unfair trade practices where country after country has gotten comfortable taking advantage of the United States due to our unparalleled generosity and wealth. So, he’s focused like a laser beam on fair trade and leveling the playing field so our manufacturing workers can compete with foreign competitors and prosper. President Trump has declared that by implementing targeted tariffs on foreign countries that hurt American workers, “our country will be extremely liquid and rich again.”

Having served as President Trump’s deputy campaign manager in 2016 and as an advisor to his campaigns in 2020 and 2024, I was delighted to see him reelected in 2024 with a huge mandate to fight for our manufacturing sector and usher in a “Golden Age” in America. Make no mistake, our 45^th and 47^th president is determined to finish the revolution on American trade policy that he began by fixing the mistakes of the Biden-Harris years and strengthening Section 232 tariffs on aluminum and steel.

As part of the shock-and-awe action of his first one hundred days in office, President Trump signed new proclamations to bolster the fair-trade policy introduced during his historic first term in office. By elevating tariffs to 25% on aluminum and restoring the 25% levy on steel, the Trump administration is making clear that they have the backs of thousands of American aluminum and steel workers and are resolute in their mission to create a multitude of new manufacturing jobs.

While the globalists in the economic establishment and mainstream media react to targeted tariffs with their customary Trump-deranged hysteria, American manufacturers reacted with both joy and relief because President Trump is making good on another campaign promise. It must be repeated again and again – because the fake news media refuses to tell the truth – that this president supports robust trade, but it must be trade that is fair and reciprocal. This is the linchpin of the policy.

Under the “America Last” mindset of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, foreign countries were free to exploit loopholes in Section 232 to flood the domestic aluminum and steel industry with cheap products. Canada, Mexico, Australia, and Argentina locked arms with D.C. swamp creatures to secure exclusions and exemptions, to the detriment of American workers. Australia’s aluminum exports into the U.S. have increased sharply and at the same time China and Russia have used loopholes to move aluminum through Mexico and Canada to flood our market. As a result of foreign countries cheating, Alcoa announced the permanent closing of its smelter in Washington State. Other closures have included a Century Aluminum plant in Kentucky, which idled production in 2022, and Magnitude 7 Metals in Missouri, which was forced to close in 2024. 

Many globalists claim that the aluminum tariffs will raise costs for consumers. This is the same stale argument we heard in the first Trump administration; it wasn’t true then and it isn’t true now. The tariffs didn’t impact the amount of steel or aluminum consumed, didn’t weaken the economy, and didn’t cause massive job losses. Conversely, capacity utilization for aluminum increased during President Trump’s first term and now major investments in the steel industry have been announced. While some globalist companies attack President Trump’s targeted tariffs, some are telling their investors that “if all countries are getting a tariff, the impact for us is zero.” And while some globalist leaders who own aluminum smelters in Canada attack President Trump’s 25% tariff, the reality is that he was elected to bring back good-paying manufacturing jobs to American plants, and this is a commitment he plans to keep. As President Trump has said time and time again, America is done subsidizing Canada and the rest of the world.

Aluminum and steel manufacturing are critical to America’s defense industrial base. Continued dependence on foreign suppliers leaves us vulnerable and jeopardizes our national security interests. President Trump is putting America first, which means a do-it-all, do-it-now policy supporting domestic manufacturing, no more loopholes, no more exemptions, and no more of the failed Biden agenda. America’s “Golden Age” will only be achieved if we have a strong and stable industrial base. President Trump’s aluminum and steel tariffs will help save America and make our country great again.

During his historic first term as President of the United States, Donald Trump put America first with a paradigm shift on trade policy. As President Trump imposed tariffs on Canada and Mexico, our president made clear that “if companies move to the United States, there are no tariffs!!!” In recent days, President Trump declared in his joint address to Congress that “tariffs are about making America rich again.”

Having travelled our nation with President Trump as his chief of staff, let me tell you that he will never stop fighting for American manufacturing workers. As the Trump administration works to stop the flood of fentanyl and illegal immigration from Canada and Mexico, President Trump also recognizes that there is a flood of foreign aluminum and steel surging into our country.

In 2018, President Trump imposed the Section 232 aluminum and steel tariffs under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. In February 2025, President Trump signed into law two new proclamations to strengthen the Section 232 tariffs that were introduced during his historic first term. With a 25 percent elevated tariff on aluminum and a true 25percent tariff on steel, the days of the Biden administration giving country exemptions and exceptions is over.

The fearmongering from the fake news media and globalist zealots who espouse free markets but have seldom experienced one miss the mark on why President Trump is fighting for American manufacturing workers. The claims of massive job loss and economic hardship from the Section 232 aluminum and steel tariffs were proven to be false. We have seen this story before.

The first term tariffs so reviled by globalists sparked a tremendous period of investment and jobs creation by American aluminum manufacturers. All across America’s heartland, U.S. producers such as Magnitude 7 Metals, Century Aluminum, and Alcoa restarted idled capacity. Then Joe Biden got elected and the globalist elites took over.

Rather than enforce the Section 232 program, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris gave exemptions to allies and enemies alike, undoing the progress of the first Trump term and putting Americans out of work. The People’s Republic of China and Russia exploited loopholes by moving aluminum through Mexico and Canada, which killed American aluminum jobs. The damage can be measured in idled smelters and lost aluminum and steel jobs alongside shattered dreams for American workers.

By raising the aluminum tariff to 25 percent and eliminating the Biden exemptions, President Trump is delivering on his pledge to put American workers first and inaugurate a new golden age.

Our adversaries have taken advantage of the weakness of Biden and Harris to not only dump aluminum and steel into our market but also by funneling supplies into border countries such as Canada and Mexico. Just as illegal migrants were flooding across our southern border bringing drugs and crime until President Trump took office, Canada and Mexico are allowing foreign aluminum producers to circumvent trade restrictions and flood the U.S. market. Ultimately American aluminum workers and their families feel the pain when Canada, Mexico, and other countries don’t play by the rules. President Trump is done subsidizing Canada. That is why the president is imposing a 25 percent tariff on all foreign aluminum imports with no exemptions and no exceptions.

President Trump’s visionary leadership has changed the way Washington deals with our allies and adversaries on trade. The beneficiaries of that America First trade policy are the hundreds of thousands of manufacturing workers whose jobs have been saved. As President Trump said in his address before the joint session of Congress “tariffs are not just about protecting American jobs, they’re about protecting the soul of our country.”

America is stronger when its aluminum industry is strong. America is stronger when its steel industry is strong. And thanks to President Trump, 25 percent tariffs on aluminum and steel imports with no exceptions will make America strong again.