Tampa Steel Conference: Inside Barry Zekelman’s bluntest talk yet

Barry Zekelman used his Tampa Steel Conference fireside chat to deliver one of the bluntest assessments yet of the forces shaping North American steel. He warned that a flawed tariff structure and an impending power crunch threaten the industry more than most realize.

Across a wide-ranging discussion with SMU Editor-in-Chief Michael Cowden, the Zekelman Industries executive chairman and CEO returned repeatedly to two themes. One, the urgent need to fix derivative tariffs that are flooding the US with pipe and tube imports. And two, the transformative potential of small-scale nuclear power as data centers strain the grid.

Laura Miller

Laura Miller is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. She has held various editorial positions with steel industry publications, associations, and mills since 2007. She joined the SMU team 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.