Final Thoughts
February 16, 2018
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
Last week ended with a bang. Steel Market Update received an invitation to participate in a press conference as Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told the world that the DOC had found that imports of foreign steel negatively impact the steel and aluminum industries, which are necessary in the United States for national security reasons. He then offered three remedies to President Trump to combat the threat of foreign steel with the goal of raising domestic steel production to 80 percent of capacity (AISI has been reporting 73-74 percent capacity, however SMU has sheet closer to 78 percent):
- An across the board global tariff of 24 percent on all steel imports.
- A targeted tariff on 12 high-export countries of 53 percent. The balance of the countries would have a quota equal to their 2017 totals.
- A quota on all steel products from all countries equal to 63 percent of their 2017 exports to the United States.
