On February 10, local time, US President Trump signed an executive order announcing a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imported into the United States. Trump also said on the same day that there were "no exceptions and exemptions" to the relevant requirements, and that tariffs on cars, chips and medicines would be considered in the future.

Reuters said that this was "another major escalation" of his adjustment of US trade policy. This round of tariff actions is believed to affect some of the United States' largest trading partners and allies: the United States' largest steel importers are Canada, Brazil and Mexico; Canada is the United States' largest supplier of raw aluminum; in addition, the United States is also one of the main markets for South Korea and the European Union's steel exports.

However, the US media "New York Times" has a "different" interpretation. Its report on the 10th believes that on the surface, this round of "tariff sticks" seems to be mainly aimed at US allies, but in fact Trump is still targeting China. Because no matter where the United States imports steel products from, its ultimate source is almost always China.

The report pointed out that under the rulings of successive US presidents and the Ministry of Commerce, steel and aluminum from China have been subject to many tariffs for no reason, and China now does not directly export large amounts of steel and aluminum to the United States.

But China dominates the global steel and aluminum industries, and its large and modern steel mills produce almost as much of these two metals as the rest of the world combined, or more. In addition to meeting most of its domestic demand, China's steel and aluminum exports have continued to rise in recent years, with many exported to U.S. allies such as Canada and Mexico, which in turn export large quantities of their own high-priced related products to the United States.