US President Donald Trump has announced his intention to impose 25% tariffs on all steel as well as aluminium imports, a move that will likely impact the country’s offshore wind sector.
Trump made the announcement during a briefing with reporters as he flew from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida to attend the Super Bowl in New Orleans on Sunday evening, according to the FT.
While tariffs on metals imports are supported by some key trade unions in the US and by some domestic steel and aluminium producers, they risk raising input costs for a wide range of US manufacturers.
Offshore wind is one industry that imports steel from international fabricators.
The metal is a key component in the production of foundations required to host wind turbines at sea, including monopiles, transition pieces and jackets, as well as the offshore substations used to connect and transport power produced by these turbines to shore.
Steel is also required to make the US-flagged vessels needed to enable and support the construction and operation of offshore wind farms.
In 2023, the US imported $82.1bn of steel and iron and $27.4bn of aluminium, while exporting $43.3bn of steel and iron and $14.3bn of aluminium, according to the FT report.
The full impact on the domestic offshore wind industry remains to be seen but follows on from an executive order signed by Trump last month that has put a temporary halt to offshore wind lease sales and paused permits for both onshore and offshore wind projects.
Oceantic Network described that move as a “blow to an American energy industry” that “will hurt hundreds of US companies and thousands of workers”.
CEO Liz Burdock said the executive order “flies in the face of our current energy crisis and the new administration’s priorities on American-made energy.”
Trade body American Clean Power Association (ACP) has already highlighted how the Trump Administration’s plans to apply tariffs on US imports from Canada and Mexico will impact progress to reduce the cost of energy produced by US wind and solar farms.
In response to that tariffs announcement, Jason Grumet, ACP CEO, said: “In concert with the other trade associations representing America’s energy resources, ACP is concerned that increasing the costs of energy production inputs will put upward pressure on consumer energy costs and diminish our capacity to unleash energy abundance.”