SNIPS Magazine: U.S. Manufacturers Confront the COVID-19 Pandemic
May 19, 2020
It is incredible how quickly the world changed for U.S. manufacturers in March 2020. In the first two months of 2020, small and medium sized manufacturers were expressing confidence that despite the burdensome and unnecessary Section 232 tariffs placed on steel and aluminum imports, 2020 would be a good year. In addition to terminating these tariffs, a top concern for many small and medium manufacturers was finding workers to fill the more than half-million job openings in the sector across the United States...FULL STORY
MARKETPLACE: Companies are worried tariff exclusions are getting harder to come by
February 4, 2020
The tariffs the U.S. has placed on Chinese imports come with exemptions — some lucky companies can get out of having to pay 25%, or sometimes much more, in tariffs. The Wall Street Journal crunched the numbers on those exemption requests this morning: the U.S. Trade Representative granted about 35% of requests to avoid two early rounds of tariffs. There are still tens of thousands of requests waiting for a decision. But of all the decisions made so far on a third round, only 3% have been granted...FULL STORY
METAL MINER: U.S. steel industry’s capacity utilization rate hits 82.3%
January 23, 2020
The U.S. steel sector reached a capacity utilization rate of 82.3% for the year through Jan. 18, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). Production for the year to date reached 4.94 million tons, up 2.6% from production during the same period last year (when capacity utilization rate reached 80.4%). Meanwhile, for the week ending Jan. 18, 2020, domestic raw steel production was 1.93 million net tons at a capacity utilization rate of 82.7%. The weekly production total marked a 3.0% increase from the week ending Jan. 18, 2019, when production reached 1.87 million tons at a capacity utilization rate of 80.4%...FULL STORY
SNIPS MAGAZINE: Can President Trump really change steel import restrictions on Argentina and Brazil? It's complicated
December 4, 2019
President Trump announced via tweet on Monday that he was imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Brazil and Argentina due to both governments devaluating their currencies. These two countries previously had reached a deal with the Trump administration to avoid Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs by agreeing to quotas...FULL STORY
THE FABRICATOR: CAMMU letter to Senate Finance Committee urges sunset provision to Section 232 tariffs
November 22, 2019
A coalition of U.S. metalworkers and other manufacturing industries have reignited pressure to put an end to the Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump’s administration.
In a letter this week addressed to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), the Coalition of American Metal Manufacturers and Users (CAMMU) strongly encourages the committee to include a sunset provision for the steel and aluminum tariffs in any comprehensive 232 tariff reform legislation considered by the committee. The letter was also signed by the American Association of Exporters and Importers, Auto Care Association, Flexible Packaging Association, and National Foreign Trade Council...FULL STORY
Coalition Letter to Senate Finance Committee on Sunset Provision
November 19, 2019
On behalf of the members of the Coalition of American Metal Manufacturers and Users (CAMMU)1 , and the undersigned trade associations representing industries affected by the 232 steel and aluminum tariffs, we are writing to urge you to include a sunset provision for current 232 national security tariffs in any comprehensive 232 tariff reform legislation considered by the Committee. CAMMU is a broad organization of U.S. businesses and trade associations representing...FULL LETTER
REUTERS: U.S. trade groups urge Congress to rein in 'Tariff Man' Trump
September 19, 2019
Nearly two dozen U.S. lobbying groups have joined forces to try to rein in U.S. President Donald Trump’s power to unilaterally impose tariffs amid growing concern about the negative economic impact of his trade policies.
Led by the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC), the groups on Wednesday said they had formed the Tariff Reform Coalition to urge Congress to wrestle back greater control over trade policy and increase its oversight of the president’s use of tariffs...FULL STORY
BOSTON GLOBE: From Western Mass., Trump’s trade war looks like a ‘fistfight’
August 19, 2019
To understand how a trade war is playing out beyond stock market gyrations and European economies, take the Mass. Pike west to a part of the state where manufacturing remains a way of life for many people.
“I don’t know a single manufacturer this has not affected,” said Kristin Carlson, CEO of Peerless Precision, which makes parts for the aerospace and defense industries. “The buzzword is China, but the tariffs go beyond China. . . . It’s a whole fistfight right now.”
President Trump’s extraordinary tariff war, which began in the spring of 2018, has had a ripple effect on the global supply chain, driving up the price of imported raw materials like steel and aluminum and imported goods like washers...FULL STORY
LAW 360: Bid To Limit Trump's Tariff Power Lands In Fed. Circ.
August 9, 2019
A group of steel importers looking to strike down the Cold War-era law President Donald Trump has used to set tariffs for national security purposes fired its opening shot at the Federal Circuit on Friday, telling the court that the statute is unconstitutional.
The American Institute for International Steel has spent the past year trying to wipe out Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which empowers the president to restrict imports that are deemed a security threat. According to AIIS, Section 232 effectively strips Congress of its congressional authority over tariffs and gives it to the White House...FULL STORY
WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL: Chinese stainless-steel tariffs continue to negatively affect Insteel's quarterly profit
July 18, 2019
Another sharp increase in costs related to Chinese tariffs contributed to Insteel Industries Inc. having an 82.9% decline in third-quarter net income to $2.19 million.
Diluted earnings for the third quarter were 11 cents, compared with 67 cents a year ago.
Investors responded to the second consecutive sharp quarterly profit drop by sending Insteel’s share price down as much as 15.3% during trading before the stock closed at $18.73, down $2.26 or 10.8%...FULL STORY
PLATTS: Section 232 challenge continues despite Supreme Court denial: AIIS
June 24, 2019
The American Institute for International Steel's appeal of a lower-court decision upholding US President Donald Trump's Section 232 tariffs on steel will continue on its normal course following a Monday decision by the US Supreme Court not to hear the case, the steel importers association said.
"AIIS is disappointed that the Supreme Court did not agree to hear this case at this time. It is rare for the Supreme Court to agree to hear a case before a ruling by the Court of Appeals, and our appeal will now be heard by the US Court of Appeals for Federal Circuit," AIIS President Richard Criss said in a statement.
"We continue to believe that we have a strong legal case that Section 232 is unconstitutional. Once the Federal Circuit has spoken, we expect that the losing party will ask the Supreme Court to review that decision." FULL STORY
WASHINGTON POST: Steel industry begins to idle plants, shows signs of weakness — despite Trump’s support
June 19, 2019
U.S. Steel announced it will temporarily halt production at two domestic plants despite the boost from the Trump administration’s tariffs, as a steel industry singled out for federal support shows signs of weakening.
On Tuesday, U.S. Steel said it would temporarily halt operations at a blast furnace near Detroit as well as one in Gary, Ind., on the shore of Lake Michigan. U.S. Steel will be idling a third plant in Europe, the company said.
The closure runs in sharp contrast to the narrative President Trump has offered about the steel industry. Tuesday night in Orlando, as he formally announced he was running for reelection, Trump boasted about helping the steel industry through the use of tariffs on imports...FULL STORY
NORTHWEST INDIANA TIMES: Section 232 steel tariffs mark 1-year anniversary
June 6, 2019
The Section 232 steel tariffs imposed to help preserve the U.S. steel industry — in case it's ever needed in a time of war — turned 1 year old in June.
The 25% tariffs on steel imports and 10% on aluminum tariffs helped raise domestic steel prices, restore idled plants, like U.S. Steel's Granite Works in Illinois, and boost the profitability of U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal, two of Northwest Indiana's largest employers.
A study by the Peterson Institute for International Economics found the duties helped raise the price of steel in the United States by 9%...FULL STORY
THE ECONOMIST: American importers of metals from Canada and Mexico gain relief from tariffs
May 23, 2019
Times have been tough for Riverdale Mills Corporation, a company based in Northbridge, Massachusetts. In June last year the Trump administration imposed tariffs of 25% on steel imported from Canada, which accounted for half the firm’s supply. As its business involves transforming steel rods to supply 85% of North America’s lobster traps, and 31 miles (50km) of security fencing along America’s border, its costs soared. “We were very, very disappointed,” said James Knott, its chief executive.
Disappointment has given way to delight. On May 19th President Donald Trump declared that steel and aluminium from Mexico and Canada no longer posed a threat to America’s national security, and the next day the tariffs were no more. “This is just pure good news for Canadians,” said Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister... FULL STORY
THE FABRICATOR: CAMMU releases statement regarding termination of Section 232 tariffs
May 20, 2019
Paul Nathanson, spokesperson for the Coalition of American Metal Manufacturers and Users (CAMMU), has issued the following statement on the agreement to end U.S. Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico.
“The Coalition welcomes the agreement to remove the Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs from Canada and Mexico. We urge the Trump administration to terminate the remaining Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs on our other trading partners as quickly as possible. These tariffs are damaging the U.S. manufacturing sector, and particularly downstream U.S. steel- and aluminum-consuming companies, by increasing prices and lead times for both domestic and imports of steel and aluminum and making the U.S. an island of high steel prices.
"We are also pleased that negotiators listened to U.S. steel- and aluminum-using manufacturers and did not replace tariffs with quotas, which are even worse for U.S. companies. This shows that our voices are being heard in Washington, D.C.” FULL STORY
WALL STREET JOURNAL: U.S. Reaches Deal With Canada, Mexico to End Steel and Aluminum Tariffs
May 17, 2019
The Trump administration reached agreements with Canada and Mexico to end U.S.-imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and unwind retaliatory measures, removing a major barrier to the three countries’ new trade pact.
Mr. Trump hailed the deal in a speech in Washington, saying the U.S. “just reached an agreement with Canada and Mexico and we will be selling our product into those countries without the imposition of tariffs or major tariffs.”
The U.S. agreed to drop its tariffs of 25% against Canadian and Mexican steel and 10% against their aluminum, while Canada and Mexico agreed to drop retaliatory tariffs against a wide range of items—roughly $15 billion worth of U.S. exports had been targeted—from metals to consumer products to food. Canada said its tariffs would end within two days; Mexico also confirmed the same timeline...FULL STORY
THE FABRICATOR: Are content provisions for fabricated metal products suggested in USMCA?
May 13, 2019
The new, very detailed report from the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) makes it clear that the major manufacturing provisions in the proposed U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) have to do with automobiles, and a key aspect of those provisions is steel and aluminum purchasing requirements. But it also might involve other fabricated products that include steel.
The bottom line is that 70 percent of the steel and aluminum used in cars and trucks manufactured in the U.S. would need to come from one of the three countries. The ITC report states: “Many vehicle manufacturers would need to modify their supply chains to fully comply with the new provisions, which would increase the cost of producing vehicles in North America.”...FULL STORY
WASHINGTON POST: Trump’s steel tariffs cost U.S. consumers $900,000 for every job created, experts say
May 7, 2019
President Trump has shown little interest in removing the steel and aluminum tariffs he imposed more than a year ago despite growing evidence Americans are paying a hefty price for these tariffs and increasing pressure from Republicans in Congress to remove them.
U.S. consumers and businesses are paying more than $900,000 a year for every job saved or created by Trump steel tariffs, according to calculations by experts at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. The cost is more than 13 times the typical salary of a steelworker, according to Labor Department data, and it is similar to other economists’ estimates that Trump’s tariffs on washing machines are costing consumers $815,000 per job created...FULL STORY
BLOOMBERG LAW: Manufacturers Snagged by Metal Tariffs Face Renewal Challenge
April 22, 2019
Steel and aluminum importers that obtained the earliest Commerce Department tariff exemptions are scrambling to get renewals before the original ones expire in June.
Companies complain the pending deadline adds new burdens to an already backlogged process that’s forced them to prepare months in advance for renewals while still waiting for the Commerce Department to rule on pending applications...FULL STORY
LAW 360: Battle Over Trump's Tariff Power Moves To High Court
April 15, 2019
The legal push to strike down the Cold War-era law used by President Donald Trump to set tariffs on national security grounds unexpectedly shifted to the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday as a group of steel importers petitioned the justices to rule the law unconstitutional.
A U.S. Court of International Trade panel last month expressed reservations about the wide authority granted to the president under the law — Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 — but said it was nevertheless bound by a 1976 high court ruling that upheld the statute...FULL STORY
NWI Times: Steel tariffs turn a year old, survive a legal challenge
March 29, 2019
The steel tariffs of 25 percent on all foreign-made steel marked their one-year anniversary last week and survived a lawsuit filed by steel importers.
The U.S. Court of International Trade rejected a legal challenge to the constitutionality of the Section 232 tariffs, which have been credited with reducing imports, raising steel prices and making the domestic steel industry more financially successful. The court ruled it lacked the authority to second-guess the Trump administration on the duties, which raise the cost of buying steel manufactured abroad...FULL STORY
LAW 360: Industries Clash Over Future Of Trump's Metal Tariffs
March 26, 2019
The Trump administration’s sweeping steel and aluminum tariffs continued to spark feverish debate among the business community this week, with U.S. producers urging the White House on Tuesday to hold firm and import-reliant companies calling for the duties to be removed.
President Donald Trump installed a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum one year ago after deeming those imports a threat to national security. Save for a handful of countries that have arranged managed trade deals with the U.S., the duties remain in place for nearly every U.S. trading partner...FULL STORY
SNIPS MAGAZINE: OPINION: Steel tariffs are hurting U.S. manufacturers
February 15, 2019
As president of a manufacturing company in Milwaukee, we began last year full of optimism. Our business, Lakeside Manufacturing, which has been making products and providing jobs in Milwaukee since 1946, was expanding thanks to the hard work of our employees, a growing footprint in the foodservice market and investments in innovative start-ups. We were confident that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), and the Trump administration’s efforts to reform burdensome regulations, would free up additional resources to invest in our workers and business...FULL STORY
PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE: Toomey bill would give Congress approval on tariffs invoked over national security
January 31, 2019
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey is stepping up his effort to restrict the president’s trade authority.
His Bicameral Congressional Trade Authority Act, introduced Thursday, would require congressional approval before the president can invoke national security concerns to justify tariffs and quotas.
The legislation, which also is being introduced in the House, was sparked by new tariffs on steel and aluminum...FULL STORY
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Trade war’s wounded: Companies improvise to dodge cost hikes
January 13, 2019
In Rochester, New York, a maker of furnaces for semiconductor and solar companies is moving its research and development to China to dodge President Donald Trump’s import taxes — a move that threatens a handful of its 26 U.S. jobs.
In California’s San Joaquin Valley, the CEO of a company that makes precision parts for the biomedical and chip making fields jokes bitterly that he’s running “a nonprofit” and might have to cut jobs.
And west of Detroit, a metal stamping company that supplies the auto industry is losing business to foreign rivals because Trump’s steel tariffs have raised metals prices in the United States...FULL STORY
THE FABRICATOR: USMCA trade deal fails to address tariffs
December 11, 2018
The first thing to note about the proposed United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is that it does not include elimination of the 25 percent tariff on imported steel and the 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum that the White House ordered into place in early 2018... FULL STORY
FINANCIAL TIMES: Washington tariff relief backlog hobbles US auto suppliers
December 10, 2018
Suppliers to the largest US car manufacturers are waiting for decisions on more than 1,000 applications for relief from the Trump administration’s new tariffs, and have been denied requests for more than 300, in a sign of the pressure the industry faces from restrictions on imports. The costs added by the tariffs come as the US auto industry is grappling with flagging demand, and has been laying off thousands of workers... FULL STORY
WALL STREET JOURNAL: U.S. Companies Feel the Pinch as Tariff Costs Start to Mount
December 7, 2018
American companies that import products are paying record amounts in customs duties as more tariffs imposed by the Trump administration take effect. Tariff collections topped $5 billion in October, according to data from the Treasury Department and from Census Bureau data analyzed and released by Tariffs Hurt the Heartland, a lobbying coalition of manufacturing, farming and technology groups... FULL STORY
THE FABRICATOR: CAMMU releases statement on USMCA signing and Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs
December 3, 2018
The Coalition of American Metal Manufacturers and Users (CAMMU) has released a response to the signing of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, expressing its disappointment that the signed agreement did not include the termination of Section 232 steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico... FULL STORY
THE HILL: Why cripple the US economy with tariffs when it's hitting full stride?
October 5, 2018
The American economy is roaring. As Americans have returned to the workforce, unemployment has fallen to lows rarely seen in the last 50 years. Job growth is strong – 201,000 jobs were created in August – and some employers are even having trouble finding workers. Earnings are up, and last year median household income hit a new high of roughly $61,400. And of course, last quarter’s 4.2 percent GDP growth undercuts any notion that the “new normal” constrains us to tepid 2 percent growth.
In the face of these positive indicators, the administration seems determined to snatch failure from the jaws of success by escalating its trade war with our top trading partners... FULL STORY
PLATTS: Trade court grants US steel group's request for panel to hear Section 232 case
September 20, 2018
The US Court of International Trade has granted a request filed by the American Institute for International Steel to have a three-judge panel decide whether the US Section 232 statute used to impose tariffs on steel imports is unconstitutional, the AIIS said Thursday.
CIT cases are typically heard by a single judge, however in challenges to the constitutionality of US law and other instances with "broad and significant implications, the chief judge may assign the case to a three-judge panel," according to the court... FULL STORY
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Trump tariffs put Hawley in a bind
September 15, 2018
The fate of a Missouri nail manufacturer suffering under President Donald Trump’s steel tariffs has put Republican Senate candidate Josh Hawley in a bind between his support for the president’s trade strategy and a local plant that says it could be forced to close.
Mid Continent Nail Corporation says it could shutter its Poplar Bluff plant, which employs about 335 workers, as early as this month without an exemption to tariffs, the site’s operations general manager, Chris Pratt, told reporters in early September. The company previously had said that it might not survive through Labor Day but stayed open... FULL STORY
WALL STREET JOURNAL: Nailed by Steel Tariffs
September 9, 2018
When President Trump promised to make America great again, the employees at Mid Continent Nail in Missouri probably didn’t expect he would put them out of work. But the steel tariffs imposed in June have the company hanging by a thread.
Mid Continent is the largest nail manufacturer in the U.S. and has been in Missouri for more than 25 years. It had 500 employees at its Popular Bluff plant and was the second largest employer in the small town before the Trump tariffs hit... FULL STORY
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Pass it On: U.S. executive learned from Japanese management
September 4, 2018
Troy Roberts is the chief executive of Qualtek Manufacturing Inc., a small metal stamping company located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, which has 74 employees and US$7 million in annual sales of parts for medical devices and other metal products.
Before joining Qualtek, a 50-year-old privately held American company in 2016, Roberts served as president and chief operating officer of AIDA-American Corp., the North American subsidiary of Japanese-based AIDA, the second-largest global manufacturer of high-precision mechanical stamping presses and automation equipment for the auto, appliance and electronics industries... FULL STORY
WALL STREET JOURNAL: Rising Metals Prices Show Little Sign of Substantially Boosting U.S. Production
August 24, 2018
Rising prices for steel and aluminum are driving up the value of shipments and orders of metals being produced at U.S. plants, but show little sign of substantially boosting the quantity of metals being churned out of U.S. factories or the number of workers producing them.
The Trump administration has imposed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, a move meant to encourage more production in the U.S. at the expense of foreign competitors by driving up the price of imported goods... FULL STORY
CNBC: Michigan auto parts maker caught in trade war crosshairs
August 21, 2018
Representatives from a struggling southeast Missouri nail factory were in Washington D.C. Tuesday to plea for relief from the trade war.
Missourinet media partner KFVS-TV reports leading officers from Poplar Bluff’s Mid-Continent Steel and Wire made their case directly to the head of the Commerce Department... FULL STORY
DALLAS MORNING NEWS: Once again, Texans are right in the crosshairs of Trump’s trade war with China
August 21, 2018
Texas is once again stuck in the crossfire of President Donald Trump’s intensifying trade war with China. The state’s energy, chemical and tech sectors are among those bracing for new pain after the U.S. on Tuesday finalized tariffs on $16 billion in Chinese goods and Beijing on Wednesday finished touches on retaliatory levies to cover $16 billion in American products... FULL STORY
INSIDE U.S. TRADE: Steel group cites Turkey decision in Section 232 challenge at CIT
August 21, 2018
The American Institute for International Steel is citing President Trump's decision to double Section 232 tariffs on Turkish imports as another reason the statute should be modified. The group is pushing the Court of International Trade to issue a declaration that the law relied on by Trump to impose a 25 percent tariff on imported steel is unconstitutional, as well as a court order preventing further enforcement of the steel tariff increase. A ruling in its favor would also require that U.S. Customs and Border Protection refund tariffs already paid... FULL STORY
HARTFORD BUSINESS: CT manufacturers scramble to blunt metals tariffs
August 20, 2018
In the nearly six months since President Donald Trump announced tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, Connecticut manufacturers have scrambled to blunt the impact of rising materials costs, jammed-up suppliers and other effects from the Republican administration's trade policies.
The impact of tariffs, and strategies deployed to mitigate them, vary from company to company, but three central Connecticut manufacturers interviewed by the Hartford Business Journal reported a combination of efforts that include changing ordering strategies or stockpiling key metals, asking the federal government for tariff exemptions, and diversifying or reshuffling their supplier mix... FULL STORY
THE TENNESSEAN: Tennessee manufacturers urge Trump to rescind steel tariffs
August 20, 2018
A group of Dickson County manufacturers sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to rescind the tariffs on imported steel, which they say have impaired their ability to compete with foreign companies.
Executives from six area companies employing more than 1,000 Tennesseans described the significant price increases on steel, both domestic and imported, that they said are impairing their ability to compete against foreign companies. According to the Aug. 13 letter, steel prices are the highest they have been since 2008 and they have increased by 43 percent since this time last year... FULL STORY
THE TENNESSEAN: Tennessee manufacturers urge Trump to rescind steel tariffs
August 20, 2018
A group of Dickson County manufacturers sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to rescind the tariffs on imported steel, which they say have impaired their ability to compete with foreign companies... FULL STORY
HARTFORD BUSINESS: CT manufacturers scramble to blunt metals tariffs
August 20, 2018
In the nearly six months since President Donald Trump announced tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, Connecticut manufacturers have scrambled to blunt the impact of rising materials costs, jammed-up suppliers and other effects from the Republican administration's trade policies. The impact of tariffs, and strategies deployed to mitigate them, vary from company to company, but three central Connecticut manufacturers interviewed by the Hartford Business Journal reported a combination of efforts that include changing ordering strategies or stockpiling key metals, asking the federal government for tariff exemptions, and diversifying or reshuffling their supplier mix... FULL STORY
UPI: Expect production cuts without tariff relief, U.S. energy group says
August 19, 2018
Steel tariffs are creating headwinds for the U.S. energy sector, impeding with the government's own objectives and stifling production, industry leaders said. "The Trump Administration has supported the development of robust domestic energy production. Energy infrastructure projects are complex, expensive, and depend on global supply chains," Josh Zive, a senior principal at Bracewell LLP, told UPI. "The Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs are creating uncertainty and increasing costs for the development and construction of these energy infrastructure projects across the country."... FULL STORY
NORTHWEST INDIANA TIMES: Steel trade association trying to raise funds
August 17, 2018
A trade association representing the steel supply chain appealed to members to drum up funding for its lawsuit against the Section 232 steel tariffs of 25 percent on foreign-made steel. The American Institute for International Steel, along with oil country tubular goods-maker Sim-Tex and steel-trader Kurt Orban Partners, filed a lawsuit disputing the constitutionality of the law allowing the president to impose tariffs on the grounds that the erosion of the U.S. steel industry is a threat to national security... FULL STORY
TANK TRANSPORT TRADER: Opposition Growing To Steel, Aluminum Tariffs
August 16, 2018
With the slogan “tariffs are taxes,’’ a diverse array of steel and aluminum-using manufacturers from across the United States has launched a new coalition focused on terminating the Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs. Called the Coalition of American Metal Manufactures and Users, the new trade group hopes to avoid what happened in 2001 when steel was similarly locked out through Section 201 tariffs. Those tariffs lead to the loss of an estimated 200,000 jobs... FULL STORY
ROLLING STONE: A Brief Overview of What Trump’s Tariffs Have Wrought
August 13, 2018
President Trump has long felt the United States is getting ripped off when it comes to trade. He’s lamented it at campaign rallies, he’s tweeted about it repeatedly and this year he finally decided to do something about it. It’s a simple fix, Trump reasoned: Just tax the hell out of America’s biggest trade partners. “When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win,” Trump’s tweeted in March after imposing tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum. “Example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don’t trade anymore-we win big. It’s easy!”... FULL STORY
USA TODAY: These companies might close, lay off US workers
August 8, 2018
The ongoing trade war President Donald Trump has waged against world powers, including some of our closest allies, doesn't show signs of slowing down. Left in the fray: Companies, American workers and consumers... FULL STORY
NEW YORK TIMES: Steel Giants With Ties to Trump Officials Block Tariff Relief for Hundreds of Firms
August 5, 2018
Two of America’s biggest steel manufacturers — both with deep ties to administration officials — have successfully objected to hundreds of requests by American companies that buy foreign steel to exempt themselves from President Trump’s stiff metal tariffs. They have argued that the imported products are readily available from American steel manufacturers... FULL STORY
TODAY'S MACHINING WORLD: Ep. 3- Part 2 of Miles Free Interview
July 20, 2018
Miles Free, Director of Research and Technology at the Precision Products Association, opines on electric cars, economic patriotism and how American machine shops have evolved to thrive in today’s economy... FULL STORY
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL: Trump tariffs: Wisconsin manufacturers hit by trade polices discuss plight with Ron Johnson
July 17, 2018
Ralph Hardt of Manitowoc-based Jagemann Stamping Co. came to the Federal Courthouse in Milwaukee Monday to tell Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson exactly how tariffs are hitting his bottom line. Hardt, the firm's president, said a Canadian customer was going to give Jagemann a $3 million project to produce automotive parts but because of an increase in steel prices in the U.S., the job went to a Korean business... FULL STORY
