Economy

PMA Members See Impact from Tariffs

April 30, 2018

Metalforming manufacturers are expecting steady business conditions during the next three months, according to the April 2018 Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Business Conditions Report. PMA members, however, are seeing negative impacts from the Section 232 aluminum and steel tariffs.

Orders are expected to remain steady in the next few months. Manufacturers said daily shipping levels rose slightly in April.

Only 2 percent of metalforming companies reported workers on short time or layoff, down from 3 percent in March and 6 percent in April 2017.

“PMA is beginning to receive reports from its members of negative impacts from the Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs, including price spikes and longer lead times,” said PMA President Roy Hardy. “It’s important to note that these tariffs impact domestic and imported steel and aluminum products that could disadvantage PMA members when competing against overseas companies. For this reason, PMA has joined other steel- and aluminum-using industry groups in asking President Trump to terminate these tariffs as soon as possible.”

April’s PMA report was based on a sampling of 123 metalforming companies in the U.S. and Canada.