Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
February 15, 2017
News for those attending this year’s SMU Steel Summit Conference, we will have free Wi-Fi for everyone attending. This will allow attendees to interact easier with other attendees and with our polling and other features on the SMU App. The SMU App will also have some new features this year and we will write about those in the coming weeks. Early registrations have been surprisingly brisk 193 days prior to the beginning of the conference. You can learn more about our conference, browse the speakers as we add them to the growing list, review what companies attended last year and find information regarding the costs associated with attending this year’s event. The dates are August 28-30, 2017. The conference will begin with a “Pre-Summit” segment which will be conducted at the Atlanta Airport Marriott Gateway Hotel on Monday afternoon so you will want to plan to arrive into ATL in the morning or early afternoon. There will be plenty of people to network with in the lobby of the hotel as the afternoon. Last year we had 200 people in our Pre-Summit segment and we expect this year to reach 300. If you have questions please feel free to contact me at: 800-432-3475 or John@SteelMarketUpdate.com
I mentioned the other day that a manufacturing company CEO with whom I had breakfast on Monday mentioned Jeffrey Gitomer and some of his quotes on business. I looked him up and found a few more quotes that you might find useful, “Your customers are judging every aspect of every transaction and rating everything, from friendliness of people to ease of doing business to quality of product to service after the sale.”
Another quote, “In sales, it’s not what you say; it’s how they perceive what you say.”
Enough said.
As 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.