London: The dollar firmed on Monday after US President Donald Trump said he was set to impose new 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports, putting pressure on the euro and the commodity-focused Australian and New Zealand dollars. The dollar index, which measures the US currency against six other units, was steady at 108.23 in early trading. Sterling was little changed at $1.23915, while the Japanese yen weakened 0.4% to around 152 per dollar.

According to Qatar News Agency, the euro was 0.1% lower at $1.0317 in early trading. The Australian dollar was down 0.21% at $0.6264, while the kiwi eased 0.12% at $0.5649. The Canadian dollar weakened over 0.2% as Canada is the largest supplier of primary aluminium metal to the United States.

Trump said he will announce reciprocal tariffs on Tuesday or Wednesday, applying them to all countries. The move adds to jitters over a global trade war, with China's retaliatory duties on US goods due to take effect on Monday.