Steel production in the United States has surpassed Japan’s steel production for the first time in 26 years, a result of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
In 2025, U.S. steel production beat out Japan to become the world’s third-largest steel producer. This is the first time since 1999 that the U.S. has produced more steel than Japan.
“U.S. crude steel production in 2025 was up 3.1% to 82 million tons, the first rise in two years, according to the World Steel Association,” Nikkei Asia reports. “… the growth is due in large part to the Trump administration’s tariff policies.”
Indeed, last year, Trump initially placed 25 percent tariffs on imported steel and aluminum products. Those tariff rates were later doubled to 50 percent, which has helped drastically boost steel production in the United States.
Leon Topalian, the CEO of the steel production company Nucor, said in a recent earnings call that Trump’s tariffs were not hurting American manufacturing, and in fact, were a bright spot in the nation’s economy.
“… the demand, the robustness that we see in this economy, again, I think 2026 is shaping up to be a very, very solid year for Nucor,” Topalian said.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter here.
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