Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
August 5, 2015
We released our Steel Summit Conference App this morning to all of our attendees. Almost immediately I got my first comment from the president of a manufacturing company who downloaded the App. “John, the app is excellent. Clean look and easy to navigate. Looking forward to seeing you next month.”
The comment was made on our “Activity Feed” which means it is visible to everyone who has downloaded the App and has a login and password (which only need to be used once, after that the App will recognize you and your mobile device).
By the way, the App looks sharp on the screen of your mobile device. I have copied a photo of the logo which is to the left. Not shown is under the logo it says “SMU Events.”
Ray Culley wrote an article about the App which is published in tonight’s newsletter (above). Even if you are not attending our Steel Summit Conference read the article and become better acquainted with our App as we will be using it in other conferences in the future.
I also want to point out that our next Steel 101 workshop is open for registration. The workshop will be in Davenport, Iowa (about 2-3 hours west of Chicago) and will include a tour of the SSAB mini-mill. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us: info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. Details can be found on our website.
As always your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, Publisher
John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
From one group of folks, I’ve heard that Trump might not wait until Feb. 1 – the date he threatened on to place tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico. They say he could act as soon as Friday. And then there are those who don’t think anything will happen before April 1. That’s the deadline for Commerce, Treasury, and USTR to submit key reports on “America First Trade Policy” to President Trump.
Final Thoughts
Trump made a clarification in a speech on Monday. Previously, he had declared the word “tariff” the most beautiful word in the dictionary. No longer.
Final Thoughts
President Donald Trump on Sunday hammered Colombia with 25% tariffs and threatened to increase them to 50%. Trump in a post on Truth Social said he took the action not because of a trade dispute but because the South American nation had refused to accept planes carrying deported immigrants. The president also cited "national security" concerns, just as he did to justify 25% Section 232 tariffs on steel in his first term. Even the 50% threat echoes his first term. Turkish steel, like that of most nations, was assessed a 25% tariff in March 2018. Trump doubled Turkey's tariff to 50% via a tweet in August of that year over a matter unrelated to steel.
Final Thoughts
We surveyed many of you this week and asked what you wanted to see from the new Trump administration. Responses were varied but fell largely into three groups: tariffs and trade policy, the Nippon-U.S. Steel deal, and those who are concerned about too much government sway in steel. Some also expressed hope that President Trump would continue the infrastructure spending that began under former President Biden.
Final Thoughts
Sometimes new presidential administrations hit the ground running. No time for change like the present. And sometimes new administrations blast off on a SpaceX rocket bound for Mars. There’s a big universe, and we’ve got a lot of flags to plant. Such seems to be the case with the new Trump administration.