SMU Community Chat

SMU Community Chat: Dec. 11 with ITR economist Taylor St. Germain

Written by Michael Cowden

December 2, 2024

ITR economist Taylor St. Germain will join SMU for a Community Chat on Dec. 11 at 11 am ET. You can register here. The live webinar is free for all to attend. A recording will be available only to SMU members.

What we’ll talk about

We’ll discuss the outlook for both the overall economy and also for manufacturing in 2025-26. We’ll in addition talk about how Trump administration policies when it comes to tariffs and immigration might impact the steel sector and key end use markets.

Take tariffs, for example. Will they lead to prices high enough to impact GDP, or will the effect be more modest? Could more restrictive immigration policies lead to higher labor costs – especially for industries such as construction that rely heavily on immigrant workers? Or will both measures be more targeted than some headlines suggest?

We’ll also dive into the long-term view that ITR is known for. Let’s say we see a strong economy in the back half of the 2020s. What will happen in the 2030s?

Why you should listen

Those of you who have attended Steel Summit know and value Alan Beaulieu’s perspectives. Taylor is his understudy at ITR Economics and also brings a wealth of his own experience to the table.

He is an economist and speaker at ITR Economics and hosts the firm’s popular TrendsTalk podcast. Taylor spent several years in the tech industry and has worked with numerous distributors, manufacturers, and producers in his current role. Taylor has been featured in OEM Magazine and on The Fab Lab and Wealth Formula podcasts.

PS – Don’t forgot to bring your questions to the Q&A. It’s sure to be a good discussion!

Michael Cowden

Michael Cowden is managing editor for Steel Market Update. Cowden has covered the steel industry since 2007. He specializes in flat-rolled steel but has also reported on steel long products, steel pipe and tube, and aluminum. Before joining SMU, Cowden held reporting jobs at Fastmarkets AMM in Chicago, the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, and the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh. He has also worked as a copy editor and in marketing at the University of Chicago Press. Cowden has a BA in English from the University of Chicago and an MSJ journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Contact him at michael@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7872.

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