Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on recent events in Washington: • By my count, the Bureau of Industry and Security at Commerce has posted 82 exclusion requests for steel and aluminum combined. The Washington Post reported that 1,200 requests had been submitted to BIS. The NPR program Marketplace yesterday […]
Economic activity continued to expand at a modest to moderate pace across the 12 Federal Reserve Districts in March and early April. Outlooks remained positive, but contacts in various sectors including manufacturing, agriculture and transportation expressed concern about the newly imposed or proposed tariffs on steel and aluminum. The Fed’s latest Beige Book released on […]
Attorney and SMU contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on trade developments in Washington: This week saw some important developments. Very few people have the slightest idea where all the talk on national security, intellectual property, NAFTA renegotiation and tariffs is actually going. At this point, the only trade restrictions are on steel and aluminum, […]
Much has been made of the downshift in automotive and its impact on steel demand, but “let me put you at ease about the market slowdown,” said auto analyst Bernard Swiecki with the Center for Automotive Research. Speaking at the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association annual meeting March 8 in Scottsdale, Ariz., Swiecki told the group the […]
Trying to predict the price of a metal is an exercise in futility, but MetalMiner strives to provide metal buying organizations with clarity around when and how much to buy, says Lisa Reisman, MetalMiner Executive Editor. Reisman will make another appearance at Steel Market Update’s 2018 Steel Summit Conference, set for Aug. 27-29 at the […]
Construction costs climbed in March on a wide range of building materials, according to an analysis of Labor Department data by the Associated General Contractors of America. The producer price index for input goods to the construction industry rose at its steepest year-over-year rate since 2011. The goods index climbed 0.8 percent in March alone […]
On Monday, April 9, trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz shared the following observations regarding Section 232, Section 301 and other trade-related issues with Steel Market Update. Here is what he had to say: Another eventful day in Washington. Stocks rallied today as fears of a trade war “eased,” at least in the minds of Wall Street […]
President Xi Jinping announced today that China will significantly open access to its economy including lowering import tariffs on automobiles and recognizing and enforcing intellectual property rights. In a speech at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference, Xi promoted his country as a leader in the global free market as the Trump administration threatened […]
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announced last week that the agency plans to roll back the Obama-era standards for fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions. The Obama administration’s goals “don’t comport with reality and are too high,” Pruitt said. Offering no details of the plan, he added, “The EPA will set a national standard for greenhouse […]
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced April 2 that it plans to lower the standards for vehicle tailpipe emissions, making it easier for automakers to achieve federal environmental targets. Based on information from the recently completed midterm evaluation of standards for cars and light trucks in model years 2022-25, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said the […]
A lot is going on in shipping markets as uncertainty regarding the U.S. trade situation takes hold. Tariffs are expected to affect import volumes at coastal and inland ports. Truck availability continues to be an issue with the flatbed load-to-truck ratio soaring past 100 last week and prices on the increase. Barges are frustrated by […]
The battle is being joined this week over the Trump administration’s tariffs on steel and aluminum and the World Trade Organization is the battleground. Washington trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz offers the following assessment of the current trade situation: China requested consultations with the United States—the initial step in WTO dispute settlement cases—over the steel and […]
The battle is being joined this week over the Trump administration’s tariffs on steel and aluminum and the World Trade Organization is the battleground. Washington trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz offers the following assessment of the current trade situation: China requested consultations with the United States—the initial step in WTO dispute settlement cases—over the steel and […]
Major developments yesterday in the escalating trade war between China and the United States could have serious consequences for global commerce. Washington trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz offers the following assessment of the trade situation: The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released a list of about 1,400 tariff line items. Tariffs of 25 percent on […]
Major developments this week in the escalating trade war between China and the United States could have serious consequences for global commerce. Washington trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz offers the following assessment of the trade situation: The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released a list of about 1,400 tariff line items. Tariffs of 25 percent […]
A de facto round eight of NAFTA negotiations is about to begin in Washington, D.C., despite the U.S. Trade Representative deciding not to host an official eighth round. Instead, a “ministerial meeting” between Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and Mexican Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo will be held along with discussions […]
Tensions between Washington and Beijing over China’s policies toward U.S. and foreign investment and the multibillion-dollar trade surplus with the United States continued to escalate this week. In retaliation for the Trump administration’s tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum, which took effect March 23, China has imposed tariffs on up […]
Steel Market Update has been diligently working toward completing our SMU Steel Summit Conference agenda. We have been intentionally taking our time as we wait for market developments to mature and provide guidance as to what subjects will be the most pressing to the manufacturing companies, fabricators, steel distributors, steel mills, trading companies, toll processors […]
Steel Market Update has been diligently working toward completing our SMU Steel Summit Conference agenda. We have been intentionally taking our time as we wait for market developments to mature and provide guidance as to what subjects will be the most pressing to the manufacturing companies, fabricators, steel distributors, steel mills, trading companies, toll processors […]
Brazil is one of seven countries granted a temporary retrieve from Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum. If the 25 percent tariff is imposed on the Brazilian steel industry, it would impact 13 percent of the nation’s steel exports and lead to losses estimated at $350 million annually, according to a new study by […]
Manufacturing activity expanded in March, though at a slower rate than February, reports the Institute for Supply Management. ISM’s March PMI registered 59.3 percent, down from 60.8 percent in the February survey of corporate purchasing managers. Any reading above 50 indicates growth. New orders continued to expand in March, although slowing 2.3 percentage points from […]
Scrap and coking coal prices advanced in March. Iron ore and zinc declined. To put the raw materials analysis into perspective, we include here Figure 1, which shows the spread between Chicago #1 busheling and hot rolled coil ex works Indiana through March 9, both in dollars per net ton. March was the first time […]
I just can’t understand how a quote by Richard Chriss (president of the American Institute for International Steel), which is outdated and clearly wrong can make it into a story. There seemed to be no balance to the story. How can this sentence be left to stand?–“With other nations already indicating that they will retaliate […]
Recognizing the current sensitivity of trade relations with the Trump administration, Canada is taking extra precautions to ensure there is no circumvention of U.S. tariffs through the Canadian borders. The Canada Border Services Agency will be empowered to identify businesses that are attempting to dodge duties by shipping cheap steel to Canada. Agents will have […]
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer wants to wind the NAFTA negotiations up by May 1, the day the temporary tariff exclusions expire for Canada and Mexico. Sources told Inside U.S. Trade that Lighthizer informed his NAFTA counterparts he wants to announce an agreement by March 31 and have the legal review completed by the beginning […]
President Trump’s Section 232 steel tariffs went into effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on Friday—but hardly as expected. At the last minute, the president suspended the tariffs for a large group of ally nations until May 1 while negotiations continue. The suspension could head off retaliatory trade measures threatened by various foreign countries, at least […]
Just before midnight on Thursday, March 22, the White House released a proclamation adjusting imports of steel (Section 232) by providing exclusions to Canada, Mexico, Australia, Argentina, South Korea, Brazil and member countries of the European Union. The EU countries are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, […]
More than 40 members of the World Trade Organization took the floor at a meeting of the Council on Trade in Goods on Friday to voice their concerns over U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum. Members warned that the measures would have repercussions “not only on traders’ commercial interests but also on the predictability and […]
With the announcement that seven countries will be exempt from the steel tariffs that take effect tomorrow, less than one-third of U.S. steel imports will be subject to the tariffs, by some estimates. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said during a Senate Finance Committee hearing today that the President has decided “to pause the imposition […]
President Trump signed a memorandum Thursday directing the U.S. Trade Representative to recommend tariffs on $50 billion to $60 billion of Chinese goods. In addition to the tariffs, the United States also plans to restrict Chinese invesment in the U.S. and to take action against China at the World Trade Organization, according to press reports. […]