Steel mills appear slightly more willing to negotiate spot prices on cold rolled and less open to price discussions on hot rolled, galvanized and Galvalume products, according to respondents to last week’s Steel Market Update market trends questionnaire. Every two weeks, in a proprietary poll, SMU tracks how buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel […]
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce could normally be expected to support the policies of a “pro-business” president. But recent and proposed trade actions by the Trump administration threaten the nation’s economic resurgence and as many as 2.6 million American jobs, contend Chamber leaders. In a new analysis, the Chamber outlines the state-by-state impact of retaliatory […]
I will be in my office on Monday and Tuesday of this week before traveling to Maine to speak to the Chain Link Fence Manufacturers Institute on Thursday. I have a very busy schedule over the next couple of months leading up to our 8th SMU Steel Summit Conference on Aug. 27-29. I hope I […]
The following report is normally provided to data providers and Premium level members of Steel Market Update: Steel Market Update began collecting flat rolled and plate inventories information from our participating service centers beginning on Monday of this week. The following is our “Flash” report, which is derived from at least 50 percent of the […]
Lewis Leibowitz, trade attorney and contributor to Steel Market Update, offers the following commentary on the latest developments in Washington: The steel product exclusion process is stuck. While more than 11,000 comments have been filed, the overwhelming majority of which are product exclusion requests, less than 100 (by my latest count) have been processed. Of […]
Welcome back to those of you in the United States who had the Fourth of July off, but didn’t decide to take a few extra days and extend the holiday. SMU was closed on Tuesday and Wednesday in honor of the Fourth and also to give myself a bit of a break having just been […]
Good evening from another sunny and warm day in London. Diana and I have been here since Wednesday morning of last week. We spent two full days at the headquarters of the CRU Group and another two and a half days sightseeing around London as this is our first trip to England. Having spent a […]
Canada’s retaliatory tariffs will go into effect on July 1 in response to U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum, said Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland on Friday. The tariffs on $12.6 billion of U.S. goods are equivalent to the value of steel and aluminum products hit by the Section 232 tariffs. Freeland, accompanied by Industry Minister […]
I am in London attending meetings with our new parent company, the CRU Group. I have been very impressed at the depth of the work being done by the CRU team. I will be sharing more about the CRU Group in the days and weeks ahead. I do want to stress to those of you […]
Steel imports fell by nearly a quarter from April to May as the Trump administration’s steel tariffs began to take effect, reported the American Institute for International Steel (AIIS). Imports fell 23.2 percent month-to-month to 2.89 million net tons, which was almost 16 percent lower than in May 2017. South Korea—which has agreed to a […]
The Corker amendment to require congressional approval of Section 232 tariffs by the administration has been denied a vote in the Senate despite receiving unanimous consent. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), a strong supporter of the U.S. steel industry and the Section 232 tariffs, blocked the Senate vote arguing that adding the amendment to a new […]
ArcelorMittal Dofasco CEO Sean Donnelly told Ottawa lawmakers that U.S. tariffs may force the company to lay off 1,000 workers and reconsider investments totaling $564 million. During testimony at a special meeting of the House International Trade Committee, Donnelly and other steel manufacturers asked the government to hold firm on retaliatory tariffs against the United […]
The American Institute for International Steel and two companies have challenged the constitutionality of Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. AIIS, along with Sim-Tex, LP, and Kurt Orban Partners, LLC, have filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York City alleging that the statute violates the constitutional […]
Lewis Leibowitz, trade attorney and contributor to Steel Market Update, offers the following commentary on the latest developments in Washington: Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross reported to the Senate Finance Committee last week that companies had submitted 20,003 product exclusion requests for steel and 2,503 for aluminum, seeking relief from tariffs on products they maintain are […]
Lewis Leibowitz, trade attorney and contributor to Steel Market Update, offers the following commentary on the latest developments in Washington: The year is now half over. The second half of the year will be even more interesting than the first. Here are the latest developments: Canada’s tariffs went into effect today, July 1. Tariffs of […]
Support is growing in the Senate to block President Trump’s use of Section 232 tariffs that have alienated the U.S. from its allies and the world, claims Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN). Corker has proposed a bill that would curtail Trump’s trade authority by requiring congressional approval for the imposition of tariffs for national security purposes. […]
Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs are causing collateral damage in the case of one high profile White House-favored manufacturer. Harley-Davidson announced Monday that because of EU tariffs in response to U.S.-imposed steel and aluminum tariffs, the company will shift production of motorcycles for EU destinations from the United States to international facilities. EU tariffs […]
John Packard is on an airplane somewhere over the Atlantic, on his way to meet with our new colleagues at the CRU Group, which is headquartered in London. I’m sure John would agree, as he travels far away, that this comment from a Steel Market Update subscriber hits very close to home. Responding to our […]
Sixty-three percent of respondents to this week’s Steel Market Update market trends questionnaire expect steel supplies to tighten and prices to rise even further now that the Trump administration has revoked the exclusions and imposed Section 232 tariffs on steel imported from Canada, Mexico and the EU nations. The 25 percent tariffs took effect June […]
Turkey imposed retaliatory tariffs Thursday on $1.8 billion of U.S. goods in response to Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum. “Turkey is committed to active, robust and reciprocal trade relations with the US — but with the understanding that fairness cannot be one-sided,” Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said in a statement. “We cannot and […]
As of Monday, every registration we receive for this year’s SMU Steel Summit Conference will result in a new record for our conference. Our goal is 800 and we are only 150 people away from achieving it with 63 days to go… The extreme travel is upon Diana and myself as we leave for the […]
There are big differences in the year-to-date increase of coiled plate imports on a regional basis. Last week, we published new regional import reports for HRC, CRC and HDG. This week we are publishing new reports for coiled and cut-to-length plate based on the new format. SMU produces import reports by product at the national […]
There are big differences in the year-to-date increase of cut-to-length plate imports on a regional basis. Last week, we published new regional import reports for HRC, CRC and HDG. This week, we are publishing reports for coiled and cut-to-length plate based on the new format. SMU produces import reports by product at the national level […]
In testimony before a skeptical and sometimes combative group of senators Wednesday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross did his best to defend the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum and the controversial trade policies of the Trump administration. Despite his assurances that the process of reviewing product exclusion requests is on track, members of the […]
Lewis Leibowitz, trade attorney and contributor to Steel Market Update, offers the following commentary on the latest developments in Washington: On Wednesday, during a Senate hearing on the Section 232 tariffs, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross offered some additional information on the volume of product exclusion requests he has received. As of June 20, there were […]
The data from Steel Market Update’s latest market trends questionnaire shows some erosion in Future Sentiment. The SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index measures how buyers and sellers of flat rolled and plate steels feel about their companies’ ability to be successful both now and three to six months into the future. Buyers and sellers of […]
The Commerce Department’s procedure for filing requests to have products excluded from the Section 232 steel tariffs has been called confusing and burdensome by many companies, some of which have been thwarted in their attempts to file. Applications can be rejected for something as simple as an inaccurate Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) code. In testimony […]
Major pipeline producers are seeking tariff exclusions for imported pipe used in pipeline projects currently in progress. Of the estimated 21,000 exclusion requests submitted to Commerce, more than 500 requests are for pipe and other energy-related materials. A report released June 18 by the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) estimates 41,000 miles of […]
The European Commission announced that $3.2 billion in tariffs (€2.8 billion) on imports from the United States will go into effect on Friday, June 22. The “rebalancing measures” include steel and aluminum, agricultural goods and various other products and will remain in effect for as long as the U.S. tariffs on steel aluminum are in […]
India is fighting back against U.S. tariffs on aluminum and steel by imposing higher tariffs on $235 million of American goods. The tariffs increase duties on 29 items including chickpeas, walnuts, almonds, lentil and artemia (brine shrimp). India, the largest buyer of U.S. almonds, has increased the tariff by 20 percent on almonds and walnuts […]