Raimondo: Sales Strong, but “Trade Issues Scare Me”

Behlen Mfg. Co. is among many manufacturers who report strong demand for their products despite all the trade conflict making headlines in Washington. Based in Columbus, Neb., Behlen makes grain storage equipment, building systems and other fabricated metal parts. Behlen President and CEO Phil Raimondo is pleased with his company’s performance, but his pleasure is tempered by the market’s uncertainty. “The trade issues scare me,” he told Steel Market Update. “This is the first time in my career that I have to wake up and wonder what is going on in Washington. It really does affect my company and my job.”

The tariffs have the potential to pick winners and losers with a randomness that is disconcerting. For example, he said, Behlen just landed a big grain bin project in Mexico, but not without some anxiety over Mexico’s trade dispute with the United States. The Trump administration slapped a 25 percent tariff on Mexican steel exports to the U.S., effective June 1, and Mexico immediately fired back with retaliatory tariffs on various U.S. products, including pork and soybeans. Fortunately, that did not have a direct impact on Behlen’s grain bin business. In fact, it might actually prove beneficial, Raimondo said. “If China puts a big tariff on soybeans and pork, they are going to have to find other sources for those products, such as Brazil or Ukraine. Then the U.S. will fill the gap wherever those products came from. Net-net, there will be a lot more inefficiency and maybe even some new opportunities to add storage in some areas. It could potentially help a company like Behlen that makes storage products.”