Tag: tariffs

Headline risk has returned to the ferrous complex, with both hot-rolled coil (HRC) and busheling ferrous scrap (BCH) markets surging in response to fresh trade restrictions.

Manufacturing activity exhibited slight to modest increases across a majority of districts. However, manufacturers expressed concerns over the potential impact of looming trade policy changes between late January and February.

The latest on the trade war

On 4 March, new 25% blanket tariffs across all products exported to the USA from Canada and Mexico are now in effect. The only exception is Canadian energy products, which will be assessed a 10% tariff.

April 2 is when reciprocal tariffs are expected to kick in.

Remember infrastructure week in Trump 1.0? It became a running joke. Because it was almost always derailed by whatever the scandal of the day was. In Trump 2.0, we've got tariff week. And unlike infrastructure week, tariff week is no joke.

Don't forget that Trump's reinstatement of the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports is slated for Wednesday, March 12.

“It is completely shocking for the United States to treat a long-time and fair trading partner in this manner,” the Canadian Steel Producers Association said.

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers slammed the use of "broad and indiscriminate" penalties.

Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA) President Philip K. Bell stressed a mood of "cautious optimism" for steel on what turned out to be Tariff Eve.

These tariffs would significantly increase costs for American manufacturers that rely on Canadian metals. They would also disrupt supply chains and weaken economic ties that have benefited both nations for decades.

President Trump reaffirmed Monday afternoon that his 25% universal tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico would take effect on Tuesday. “Tomorrow – tariffs 25% on Canada and 25% on Mexico. And that’ll start,” Trump told reporters Monday, according to an Associated Press report. “They’re going to have to have a tariff.”

The Manufacturing PMI registered 50.3% in February. That’s 0.6 percentage points lower compared to the 50.9% recorded in January.

The main impact of tariffs on scrap prices would be felt in Northern states - and especially among those along the Canadian border. Many steelmakers in this area receive a substantial portion of their monthly scrap charge from Canadian processors. Much of it is prime scrap used by hot-rolled (HR) coil producers.

While Congress has given the president enormous power over trade policy, the president wants to test the limits of that authority. If there are no guardrails, our economic and political liberty may be on the block. Stay tuned.

The demise of the VAT rebate system in China might be the most tangible sign that Beijing realizes that its unbridled access to global markets is over. There was no point in continuing a system of financial incentives to the export sector when the tariff headwinds were getting stronger.

That’s not to say Section 232 shouldn’t be tightened up. Or that certain trade practices – even among our traditional allies – weren’t problematic. But when it comes to the reboot of Section 232, I do wonder whether there will be some unintended consequences.

On Thursday morning, Trump posted on Truth Social about Canada and Mexico: “the proposed TARIFFS scheduled to go into effect on MARCH FOURTH will, indeed, go into effect, as scheduled.”

President Trump has directed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to investigate copper imports into the US under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 on national security grounds.

It won't be so easy to restart idled aluminum production in the US, AMU says.

President Donald Trump indicated in a cabinet meeting Wednesday that a 25% blanket tariff on all imports is coming for the EU next.

As February comes to a close this week, the scrap markets are poised for another – and perhaps more extreme – move upward in March. March is usually a month when scrap prices relent as winter’s impediments subside. That’s not the case this year. And this time, the driver of prices will be increased demand from mills along with restricted flows over the last two months.

Market participants might disagree over how high flat-rolled steel price might go and for how long they might remain elevated. But there is near total agreement on one thing: Prices are up sharply again this week. The gains come on the heels of waves of mill price increases (for sheet and for plate), expectations that scrap prices will rise again in March, and the threat of tariffs looming over the market.

Tuesday, March 4, marks the end of a 30-day delay in the levies.

"The second half of last year was especially bad with the steel demand from the automotive sector slowing down, construction activity lagging and industrial production taking a hit," the CEO said.

MPG Canada is laying off 140 workers across its facilities in Ontario and Quebec.

Brazilian long products producer Gerdau is now considering siting a 600,000 ton per year specialty steel plant in the United States, rather than Mexico as initially planned, in the wake of President Donald Trump’s imposition of 25% tariffs on steel imports into the US.

The US steel market has whipsawed upward on the prospect of expanded Section 232 tariffs of 25% being applied to imported steel - including downstream goods - on March 12. It seems pretty clear that domestic steel mills have the ear of the Trump administration when it comes to Section 232. The result? The much-anticipated Trump bump has finally arrived - and then some.

Do we want the benefits of the Section 232 tariffs to flow to the bottom lines of foreign steel and aluminum producers or to the US government and, ultimately, domestic manufacturers and their workers? In our view, the answer is simple. Section 232 exceptions do nothing more than lead to underserved profits for foreign manufacturers who are harming the US industrial base. That revenue could be used to pursue the Trump administration’s other policy priorities - such as deficit reduction or expanded tax cuts.

SMU Community Chat with CRU's Josh Spoores.