Iowa Senators Seek Section 232 Exclusion to Rebuild After Storms

Iowa farmers are complaining that tariffs are causing opportunists to raise steel prices for materials needed to rebuild following the devastating derecho storm that damaged farms last month. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) penned a letter to Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross asking that Section 232 tariffs be lifted on any steel used in Iowa’s rebuilding, especially steel used in construction projects, grain bins, machine sheds and agricultural machinery.

“In the wake of this catastrophe, opportunists are offering extremely high estimates to Iowans for the steel they need to rebuild their homes, farms, businesses and communities. A number of farmers have told us that the increased prices for steel would collectively add hundreds of millions of dollars in costs for them. This can’t happen,” said the senators.