Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
February 10, 2017
My apologies as I have been consumed lately with making sure we have a program staffed with the absolute best speakers at this year’s SMU Steel Summit Conference. This will be the first year we will have a manufacturer’s panel. The idea is to have three CEO’s talk about how they see business, trade and anything else that they feel would be of value to the other manufacturers, service centers, steel mills, trading companies, etc. We have two CEO’s confirmed and are working on getting our third. Both of the confirmed CEO’s came based on the recommendations of our readers. Got someone out there that you think has something to offer? You can reach me at: 800-432-3475 or by email at: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
In case you missed the data we shared with everyone at the end of the Alan Beaulieu article. Based on the survey taken during the conference last year, 33 percent of the attendees were manufacturing companies, 31 percent service centers, 11 percent were “not defined”, 8 percent financial institutions, 7 percent steel mills, 7 percent transportation and 3 percent raw material suppliers.
A reminder to everyone that Tuesday of this week is Valentine’s Day.
A always, your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, Publisher
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.