Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
June 14, 2019
Happy Father’s Day to all of the fathers reading tonight’s issue.
I will be in New York City participating in the CRU Steel Briefing, which will be held at the Sheraton Hotel in Manhattan on Monday afternoon. Later that evening I will be attending the Bank of America Merrill Lynch steel dinner hosted by Timna Tanners, their metals and mining analyst. I do have some time on Tuesday morning should someone want to speak with me while I am in New York City. I will be returning to my office on Wednesday morning.
I wish to highly encourage companies to nominate young talented employees who are performing at an exceptional level, or who have shown themselves to be highly creative, for the SMU NexGen Leadership Award. So far, we have had approximately 50 companies inquiring through the website looking for information and we have started to get the first trickle of nominations coming in. This award, sponsored by the Steel Manufacturers Association, will allow those nominated, and especially the winner, to be recognized for his or her contributions. We hope it will encourage more young people to consider careers in manufacturing, fabrication, steel distribution, steel mills, toll processors and other companies that work with mild carbon and advanced high-strength steels. Support your team by nominating your young up-and-rising stars. For more details go to: www.SMUAward.com
Things are starting to get hectic (even more hectic) as we finish our preparations for the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference. We are sitting at 700 executives registered from about 300 companies. We still anticipate 1,000 decision-makers from more than 400 companies when the final tally comes in. If you would like to learn more about the agenda, speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, hotels, costs to attend and how to register go to: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/Events/Steel-Summit. If you are having any issues with registration please contact Brett Linton at 770-299-9897 or email Events@SteelMarketUpdate.com
Paige Mayhair is on vacation this week and her job is being covered by Brett Linton. If you have questions about renewals, upgrading your membership or becoming a subscriber to SMU, please contact Brett@SteelMarketUpdate.com or call him at 770-299-9897.
As always, your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, President & CEO
John Packard
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Final Thoughts
The whole SMU team is packing up our laptops and our SMU polos/cardigans, loading up the PowerPoint slides, and preparing to make the trek down to Florida for the Tampa Steel Conference. There will be plenty to talk about!
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.