The levies took effect just after midnight on Wednesday “with no exceptions or exemptions”, as promised by the White House -- despite countries’ efforts to avert them.
“We deeply regret this measure,“ European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement, adding that “the countermeasures we take today are strong but proportionate”.
And China, the world’s leading steel manufacturer -- though not a major exporter of the product to the United States -- vowed “all necessary measures” in response.
Washington’s tariffs would “seriously damage the rules-based multilateral trading system”, she warned.
“It wouldn’t surprise me to see the tariffs pretty quickly show up in prices,“ Cato Institute research fellow Clark Packard told AFP.
Trade turmoil
The latest duties will again impact Canada heavily, with the country supplying about half of US aluminium imports and 20 percent of its steel imports, according to a recent note by EY chief economist Gregory Daco.
Wednesday's levies stack atop earlier ones.
Uncertainty over Trump's trade plans and worries that they could tip the world's biggest economy into a recession have roiled financial markets, with Wall Street indexes tumbling for a second straight day on Tuesday.
'Massive uncertainty'
And it's not the first time Trump has slapped tariffs on the metals.
As part of the EU's two-pronged approach to Trump's actions, von der Leyen said Brussels will also allow those previous higher levies to be reinstated.
Even before the latest US tariffs took effect, manufacturers moved to find cost-effective domestic suppliers.
“It’s creating massive amounts of uncertainty,“ he added.
But others warn that tariffs merely add to the cost of imports while allowing US-made goods to become equally expensive.
There is also a higher rate on aluminium imports this time and with duties layering onto existing restrictions this is “likely to make foreign sourcing more expensive across multiple industries”.
Top Japanese government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said Wednesday it was “regrettable” that it had not succeeded.
The UK government called the new US tariffs “disappointing”, but stopped short of retaliating as it seeks a wider economic agreement with Washington.
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