American mills urge Trump to maintain no exceptions on steel tariffs

“The results of your bold actions in 2018 were undeniable,” they said. “The moment you implemented comprehensive steel tariffs, steel imports dropped significantly, allowing American producers to reinvest and rebuild. Nearly $20 billion was directed into new and upgraded facilities, and struggling firms were revitalized.”

The companies said later negotiations of those 2018 tariffs led to increased imports and product-specific exclusions, which watered down the levies.

“The result was a weakened U.S. steel industry exposed again to the global steel oversupply crisis,” they said. “Your February 10 proclamation reinstating a uniform 25% tariff across the board is the right response to this global challenge. We urge you to resist any requests for exceptions or exclusions and to continue standing strong on behalf of American steel.”

Signing the letter were Leon Topalian, president and CEO of Nucor Corp.; Lourenco Goncalves, president and CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc.; Richard Poinsatte, senior vice president and treasurer of Steel Dynamics Inc.; David Burritt, president and CEO of U.S. Steel Corp.; Peter Matt, president and CEO of Commercial Metals Co.; Barry Zekelman, executive chairman and CEO of Zekelman Industries; Luca Zanotti, president of Tenaris S.A.; Mike Williams, president and CEO of Metallus, Inc.; and Cristobal Fuentes, president and CEO of North American Stainless.

In February, Trump authorized the reinstatement of the tariffs on all countries under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, with no product exemptions or country-specific quotas. With so many recent changes in his tariff policy, some worry that Trump could pull back on the steel and aluminum tariffs scheduled to restart next week.

This week has been a roller coaster ride for trade policy.

On Tuesday, blanket 25% tariffs were slapped on Canada and Mexico. Canada retaliated within hours. Mexico planned to have a response this weekend. Meanwhile, Wall Street plummeted. Trump stood behind the blanket tariffs in a speech to Congress later that evening. Then, on Wednesday, a one-month delay was put in place for goods that complied with the North American trade agreement, USMCA.

SMU’s parent company, CRU Group, noted this week that if the 25% levies are maintained, the cost of these and any retaliatory tariffs would be significant.

CRU said US GDP could drop by about 1%. “Given the increasing number of signs in the data that the US economy is slowing, this will be a highly unwelcome headwind,” CRU wrote. “It will be particularly severe for the automotive and construction sectors.”