<article><p class="lead">The latest round of proposed US tariffs on Chinese goods announced yesterday targets metals that were excluded from the previous round in May, potentially exerting pressure on prices.</p><p>US President Donald Trump said that the US would target $300bn worth of Chinese imports with a 10pc import tariff from September, in addition to the 25pc tariff on $250bn worth of goods targeted in May. </p><p>Rare earths were some of the only metals to escape the list, because China holds a near-monopoly on global supply. Nickel cathodes were excluded from the list, but nickel-cadmium batteries were included. Unwrought germanium, unwrought zirconium and zirconium powders were also added to the latest round. Most minor metals and ferro-alloys were already included in the list of tariffs in May and were not subject to additional tariffs.</p><p>Lithium-ion batteries were targeted in the new tariffs, which will intensify the battery element of the US-China trade war. There were previous tariffs imposed on lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide in May. The US has several so-called gigafactories in development, alongside Tesla's flagship plant in Nevada, but the electric vehicle (EV) battery market is dominated by China, which has several large battery producers and a booming EV market.</p><p>Primary and secondary aluminium grades were targeted in the tariff list, after being mostly left out in May. Aluminium imports into the US were already subject to a 10pc tariff under Section 232 tariffs. The inclusion of aluminium in the list could have consequences for secondary aluminium producers in Europe, which are already under pressure because of a slowdown in the EU car market. </p><p>Chinese producers could divert material towards other markets as they did with steel. Secondary aluminium feedstocks such as silicon and magnesium could also come under pressure.</p><p>Steel products were added to the list, with most stainless steel and carbon steel grades included. These tariffs will add an extra 10pc on top of the 25pc duty from the section 232 tariffs imposed on all steel imports to the US in March 2018. Since the section 232 tariffs, steel from Asia-Pacific has been redirected to other markets, causing a crisis in European steelmaking. </p><p>Most steelmaking feedstocks, including ferro-alloys and ores, were included in the previous list of 25pc tariffs in May.</p></article>
