President Donald Trump officially increased tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25 per cent on Wednesday. He removed all exemptions from his 2018 tariffs on the metals, in addition to increasing the tariffs on aluminum from 10 per cent.

The US president has separate tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, with plans to also tax imports from the European Union, Brazil and South Korea by charging “reciprocal” rates starting on April 2.