The best that can be said about President Trump’s blessing of Nippon Steel’s purchase of U.S. Steel is that it blocks Cleveland-Cliffs’ political power play to buy U.S. Steel instead. The worst to be said is that the purchase has become another opening to make U.S. companies less competitive with higher tariff walls on foreign steel.

Trump recently held a rally in Pennsylvania to take credit for the Nippon Steel takeover he is finally approving. He announced a consolation prize to United Steelworkers boss David McCall, who had opposed the deal: Doubling steel tariffs to 50%.

The President boasted about Nippon Steel’s commitment to invest $14 billion in U.S. Steel, including $2.2 billion in Pittsburgh’s Mon Valley plant. But the Japanese company had agreed to most of its commitments when it sought approval from the Biden Administration. President Biden still blocked the deal as a favor to McCall and Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves.

They want to create a steel cartel with more leverage to raise prices. Nippon Steel had outbid Cleveland-Cliffs in 2023. Acquiring U.S. Steel would have given Cleveland-Cliffs control over 100% of U.S. blast furnace production, iron ore reserves, electrical steel production, and two-thirds of automotive steel production.

Republicans prevailed on Trump to approve the Nippon deal, which was supported by rank-and-file workers. Last month Cleveland-Cliffs announced it will lay off 1,000 workers, idle plants in Pennsylvania and Illinois and scrap plans to build a new plant in West Virginia in order to pare its financial losses and pay off debt.

Enter Trump’s new tariff lifeline by doubling his Section 232 steel tariffs to 50%. Higher tariff walls may help Cleveland-Cliffs stanch its red ink, but they are unlikely to save or create jobs. They will raise costs for steel consumers including auto-makers and machinery manufacturers and could boomerang.

His first-term steel and aluminum tariffs caused prices to rise for a period, but higher prices hurt customers and caused demand to fall. A Federal Reserve Board of Governors study estimated the tariffs cost 75,000 manufacturing jobs. Employment in fabricated metals manufacturing is still some 33,000 lower than when the tariffs took effect.

Goncalves noted in a recent quarterly earnings call that Trump’s auto and steel tariffs on Canada “impacted our clients” who sell products in the U.S. “That was not part of our plan. Absolutely not. Nobody saw that coming,” he said, adding he wouldn’t have bought Canadian steelmaker Stelco “if I knew that Canada would not be treated like a friend.”