Steel Giants With Ties to Trump Officials Block Tariff Relief for Hundreds of Firms

[Eugene]

Source: New York Times

By Jim Tankersley
Aug. 5, 2018

WASHINGTON — Two of America’s biggest steel manufacturers — both with deep ties to Trump 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.

Charlotte-based Nucor, which financed a documentary film made by a top trade adviser to Mr. Trump, and Pittsburgh-based United States Steel, which has previously employed several top administration officials, have objected to 1,600 exemption requests filed with the Commerce Department over the past several months.

To date, their efforts have never failed, resulting in denials for companies that are based in the United States but rely on imported pipes, screws, wire and other foreign steel products for their supply chains.

The ability of a single industry to exert so much influence over the exclusions process is striking even in Mr. Trump’s business-friendly White House, given the high stakes for thousands of American companies that depend on foreign metals. But the boundaries of trade policy are being tested by the scope of Mr. Trump’s multifront trade war with allies and adversaries alike, which includes tariffs on up to $200 billion worth of goods from China and possible tariffs on automobiles and auto parts.

-snip-


Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/05/us/politics/nucor-us-steel-tariff-exemptions.html

[tblue37]

1. K&R for visibility. nt

[kwassa]

2. the story of the US company that made nails ...

screwed over by our president. An interview with the operations general manager, Chris Pratt.

PRATT: Well, Section 232 tariffs only affect steel, not finished goods, so when we tried to pass on that 25 percent, which - our customers, in the two-week period, canceled 50 percent of their orders for June because they could buy import nails that are not subject to the 232 tariff. You know, right now, we're fighting 232 tariffs imposed by our own president, which, in turn, has allowed steel producers to raise their price 30 percent, as well.

COLEMAN: I'm sorry. Did you say that American steelmakers are increasing their prices by 30 percent?

PRATT: That's correct.

COLEMAN: Why?

PRATT: Because they can. When import supply is eliminated, that just gave them the ability to raise their price 25 percent, and they capitalized on it and raised it even more.

https://www.npr.org/2018/07/22/631254971/missouri-nail-factory-manager-on-steel-tariffs

[GusBob]

8. A poster here said that would happen

When the tariffs were announced a DUer pointed out that domestic manufacturers would raise their prices to match the imports, because they could.

I had a hard time wrapping my mind around that. You would think they would use the lower price to increase sales.

Incredible

[BumRushDaShow]

12. "You would think they would use the lower price to increase sales."

(It's what "the markets" will bear, so they "price fix" )

[Iliyah]

3. Greed

[mtngirl47]

4. Government of the rich,

by the rich, for the rich shall not perish from the earth.....oh wait, is that what Lincoln said??

[Alternative Facts]

5. Story of American Keg Company

CZACHOR: When you look at a stainless steel keg that we make, it's all domestic steel, so we purchase all the steel here in the U.S. Once those tariffs were discussed and then implemented here, our pricing for the domestic steel started to go up. And the difference between an import keg and an American-made keg is greater than it was, say, four months ago or five months ago.

MCCAMMON: Czachor explains that at the moment, there are no tariffs on imported kegs, but because there's a tariff on steel, the kegs his company makes cost about $20 more than the ones that come in from China.

CZACHOR: There's only so much that a customer is willing to pay to buy an American-made keg. So we have a lot of patriotic customers, but as that price difference continues to increase, we lose sales. And as a result of losing sales, we had to reduce some of our workforce. (10 out of 30 employees were let go)


NPR: https://www.npr.org/2018/03/24/596744980/trumps-tariffs-lead-to-layoffs-at-steel-beer-keg-company

[GusBob]

9. Welcome to this place!

Great post!

[Solly Mack]

6. K&R

Wow

[sueh]

7. Wow! I was not aware that Nucor and US Steel could file objections when companies file a

request to be exempted from Trump's tariff when buying imported steel. And to raise their prices to boot. What a mess!

[dchill]

10. K&R.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

11. ELI5: If tariffs are basically taxes on imported goods, where does the tax revenue end up?

Serious question.

[moonseller66]

13. Greed

[John Gruff]

14. Corruption

plain and simple.