Automotive

Cliffs inks longer-term contracts with US automakers hedging tariff inflation: Report

August 15, 2025

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has reportedly signed “unusually long” fixed-price supply agreements with multiple US automakers.

According to a Bloomberg report on Friday afternoon, the Cleveland-based steelmaker has inked contracts to supply steel sheet to General Motors and other car companies in the US for up to three years. The article cited sources privy to the deals who wished to remain anonymous.

American steelmakers typically renew contracts with automotive customers on an annual basis. (And often right around the time of SMU’s Steel Summit in August.)

The “unusually long duration” of the contracts is the auto industry’s move to protect itself from growing inflation concerns, according to the Bloomberg article.

President Trump’s tariffs on steel, aluminum, automobiles, etc., are fueling the flames of inflation. “Automakers are now taking the chance to lock in a fixed steel price as tariff costs risk sapping demand for new cars,” Bloomberg reported.

It wasn’t clear with which car companies Cliffs had reached the deals. The steelmaker is the largest US supplier of automotive steels, serving the Detroit Big Three — GM, Ford, and Stellantis — as well as other North American automakers.

Cliffs, GM, and Ford all declined to comment. Stellantis didn’t respond to a request for one.

Laura Miller

Laura Miller is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. Since 2007, she has held various editorial and marketing positions with steel industry publications, associations, and mills. In 2021, after a five-year hiatus working across other industries, she returned to steel trade journalism, joining SMU in 2022. She is a member of the Association of Women in the Metal Industries and a past-president of the AWMI Pittsburgh Chapter. She holds a BA in Latin American Studies from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. She can be reached at laura@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7869.