Steel prices fall on Trump's trade threats

Steel prices fell today following President Donald Trump's tariffs threats against several countries around the globe.

US President Donald Trump said yesterday that a trade agreement with China might have to wait until after the presidential election in 2020, which increase trade uncertainty.

Trump added that China still wants a trade deal now, not Washington, and his administration will see what happens in the coming period.

President Trump also threatened to impose tariffs on steel imports from Brazil and Argentina, due to their manipulation of their currencies exchange rates, the Real and Peso, against the US dollar to obtain competitive advantages.

On another front, Trump also threatened to impose tariffs up to 100% against France, if Paris imposed taxes on US technology companies, including Google, Apple and Facebook.

As for trading, steel prices fell by 1.7% to $1,037.1 per tonne as of 14:25 GMT, and hit an intraday high of $1,054.9 and a low of $1,024.7.