Company Announcements
December 4, 2025
CPA warns against using S232 steel, aluminum in Big Tech trade talks
Written by Laura Miller
The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) is urging the Trump administration to keep Section 232 steel and aluminum measures focused on rebuilding domestic production capacity. The organization warned against using the metals sector as leverage in unrelated trade negotiations.
CPA’s call followed comments by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Nov. 24. He suggested the US could strike a “cool steel and aluminum deal” with the European Union in exchange for concessions on Big Tech rules, according to a Bloomberg report.
Policy shifts intensify pressure on fabricators
CPA President Jon Toomey said such an approach risks sidelining domestic fabricators, which he described as “the backbone of the US supply chain.”
Over the past year, policy changes have intensified pressures on downstream manufacturers. CPA said adjustments to Section 232 have allowed tariff waivers on certain imports, expanded tariff inversion, and limited the applicability of tariffs to unverifiable metal content values. In aluminum, domestic smelters have raised prices by the amount of the tariff even when none is due, further squeezing US fabricators, according to the Coalition.
“Section 232 actions exist to strengthen America’s industrial resilience – not to become bargaining chips in unrelated negotiations,” stated Toomey.
He pointed out that American consumers continue to buy imported goods, while domestic mills and fabricators are being displaced by lower-cost overseas competitors.
“On Black Friday and throughout the holiday season, American consumers will still be buying barbeques and gun safes made in China, and AI data centers will be buying steel conduit made in Mexico — even though we have ample domestic capacity to produce these goods here at home with American steel,” he added.
Indeed, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) estimates that current capability utilization across US steel mills is just under 76%, four percentage points below Section 232’s original intent to maintain utilization above 80%.
CPA wants recommitment to reshoring agenda
CPA is calling on the administration to recommit to its reshoring agenda and ensure Section 232 maintains its original intent: to strengthen American production, protect critical supply chains, and support US manufacturing workers.
“We urge the president’s trade team to return home, engage directly with domestic manufacturers, and ensure that Section 232 continues to support — not sideline — the American industrial base,” Toomey stated.
The CPA is an advocacy group representing American manufacturers and producers across various industries in Washington. Two men of steel currently sit on the CPA board of directors: Dan DiMicco, chairman emeritus of Nucor; and Barry Zekelman, executive chairman and CEO of pipe and tube manufacturer Zekelman Industries.
