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    Analysis

    July 10, 2017

    Final Thoughts

    Written by John Packard

    Earlier today, I got a request from one of our readers looking for articles about Section 232 as they wanted to do an article on the subject for their customers. In responding to their inquiry, I performed two searches using the search box in the top righthand corner of our website. (I usually log in to my account first in case the articles retrieved are member-only access articles). Since the subject was Section 232, I used that as my first search and quite a few articles popped up. I also did a search using Lewis Leibowitz in the search box, since I knew that Lewis has been quoted and has written quite a bit on the subject for SMU. Whenever you are looking for an article on a specific subject, try out our search box as you may be surprised by how much you are able to find on the topic. Of course, you are always welcome to ask us a question by using the info@SteelMarketUpdate.com email address.

    As I mentioned in our steel prices article, I am concerned that what was expected to happen regarding tariffs or quotas on foreign steel is either not going to happen or is being watered down to such a degree that it will have minimal impact on supply and ultimately prices. Look for signs (tweets?) that President Trump starts reporting success at the G20 meeting with the steel agreement and that the threat of Section 232 has resulted in one-on-one negotiations with individual countries. The expectation now is NAFTA countries, Australia and European countries will not get hit. This is my opinion as of today, and with President Trump one needs to be nimble to see where things ultimately shake out. Stay tuned as my opinion may be quite different if the news changes tomorrow.

    John Packard

    Read more from John Packard

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