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.