SMU Market Trends: Many Find Tariffs Troubling

Two out of three respondents to Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire this week said they remain concerned about the possible negative impacts of trade tariffs on their business and that of their customers.

The Section 232 tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum remain a serious obstacle to the new North American free trade agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Various trade groups from automotive and other steel-consuming industries have called for an end to the tariffs on the United States’ closest trading partners, which they argue benefit the steel industry at the expense of downstream manufacturers. The three nations are expected to sign the USMCA deal at the G20 meeting in Argentina Nov. 30. Legislators from the three countries would still have to approve it before it would take effect.