Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
December 24, 2015
This is the last issue of Steel Market Update for this calendar year. We will not publish an issue on Thursday as it is New Year’s Eve and we will all be out celebrating what we hope will be a much stronger New Year. our offices will be open on Wednesday and for the first half of the day on Thursday.
In case it means anything, Alan Beaulieu of the Institute for Trend Research is forecasting that 2016 will be a better year than 2015 and 2017 will be even better than 2016. So, there is light at the end of this tunnel and we are looking forward to a good 2016.
I want to take a moment to thank each and every one of you for your business, support of our workshops and conferences and spreading the word about our little company. Please keep it up in the New Year as we continue to grow and to bite on the tail of our competition.
We are part of the fabric of the steel industry. An industry which has struggled over the past 25 years and continues to reinvent itself with new steels, consolidation, the closure of outdated mills and the opening of new state of the art facilities. We will have another one coming online by mid-2016, Big River Steel. SMU will host one of our Steel 101 workshops in Memphis, Tennessee probably in October and we will take our attendees to tour Big River Steel.
The steel industry has been good to me and my family and I hope it has done the same for you and yours.
From all of us here at Steel Market Update we want to wish each and every one of your a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!
John Packard, Founder & Publisher, Steel Market Update
John Packard
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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.