US Plans 25% Tariffs on Steel & Aluminum, Romania Affected

The US president Donald Trump announced that he will impose 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports starting today. With annual exports to the US of over 500 million dollars, Romania is, along with France, Germany and Italy, among the countries that would pay these tariffs.

The US president made the announcement in a discussion with reporters aboard Air Force One, while flying from Mar-a-Lago (Florida) to New Orleans, to attend the Super Bowl final on Sunday night. Donald Trump said that “as of Monday, all steel and aluminum entering the US will be taxed at 25%”, without specifying exactly how he intends to apply the “reciprocal tariffs” that he promised to announce in the coming days.

Analysts believe that exceptions to these rules are not excluded, especially since it is not only China that is affected, from where the US imports about 10% of these metals, but also countries considered close allies of the US, such as Canada, Mexico, Italy, the UK, Germany, France, Spain. Romania exported, in 2023 (data for 2024 are not yet available), aluminum and steel worth 520 million dollars, according to statistics compiled by the Financial Times.

In addition to the measures on steel and aluminum products, Trump said he would unveil new “reciprocal tariffs” in the coming days targeting a wide range of imports from countries that impose taxes on U.S. exports. Trump has already imposed 10% tariffs on all imports from China. After the announcement made on Sunday evening, the dollar appreciated by an average of 0.3% against major currencies (the euro, yen and pound sterling) and aluminum futures rose by 0.5%. In 2023, the U.S. imported steel and iron worth $82 billion and aluminum worth $27.4 billion. The Financial Times notes that the resumption of Trump’s plans to impose import tariffs will reignite concerns that his economic policies could trigger a new surge in inflation in the U.S. economy and beyond.

Romania’s total exports to United States was US$2.33 Billion during 2023, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. Romania Exports to United States – data, historical chart and statistics – was last updated on February of 2025.

The United States imposed tariffs of 25% and 10% on steel and aluminum producers in the European Union, respectively, during Trump’s first term. Back then, Romania reportedly lost exports to the United States amounting to 120,000 tons of steel and 4,000 tons of aluminum.

The main steel producers are: Tenaris Silcotub Zalău, TMK Artrom, Slatina Petrotub Roman, while Alro Slatina is the only aluminum producer in Romania.