Manufacturers’ View of 232: ‘Thank Goodness Demand is So Strong’

Were it not for the surprisingly strong steel demand, the price hikes prompted by the Trump administration tariffs would be a disaster, say manufacturers. As it is, the effects of the Section 232 tariffs are proving troublesome for many companies.

President Trump is due to announce May 1 whether his 25 percent tariff on steel imports will be reinstated, whether the nation’s closest trading partners will remain exempt or whether some other mechanism, such as quotas, will be used to prevent low-priced imports from harming the domestic steel industry. Trade officials have given no indication of what they intend to do, which leaves the market in an uncomfortable state of uncertainty.