Tariff Uncertainties Rattle Steel, Aluminum Producers

SEATTLE (Waste Advantage): Shares in U.S. steel producers fell Tuesday after the Trump administration pushed back a deadline to impose tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from some U.S. allies. U.S. Steel shares fell more than 6% while Nucor was off more than 2%.

Executives from both firms lobbied for duties on foreign steel and aluminum, which they said they needed to compete with cheap imports.

“Frankly we’re disappointed. We were hoping for the action to be taken last night,” John Ferriola, chief executive of Nucor Corp, told reporters in Washington. He said the exemptions apply to countries that account for about two-thirds of steel imports and this extension gives them “another month to get their steel into the country.”

Mr. Ferriola added that he was pleased that the administration has said it won’t extend the tariff exemption beyond this one month. U.S. Steel didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Shares in aluminum maker Alcoa, meanwhile, were up about 2%. The Pittsburgh-based company made 14% of the aluminum it produced last year in the U.S. and imports some of the metal it sells here from Canada.

“We believe vital trading partners should be permanently exempt from any tariff or quota on aluminum,” the company said. “The aluminum industry has an integrated supply chain and actions should not penalize those that abide by the rules.”

The White House said late Monday that tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum from the European Union wouldn’t go into effect as planned on Tuesday. Instead, the EU has another month to continue negotiating with the U.S. about a new pact to avoid the tariffs, which are already in effect against China, Russia, Japan and others. Canada and Mexico were given an extension until June 1 while the North American Free Trade Agreement is renegotiated.

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, speaking Tuesday before a steelmakers’ group, said the European Union, Canada and Mexico will have a “final 30 days, that’s all.” to reach an agreement on metal imports. He said those countries would not be given more time. He said U.S. will insist that any exemptions be connected to quotas imported steel and aluminum in any trade agreement.

He said the trade deal with South Korea that will cap imports at 70% of the average volume for the past three years. “That’s a good deal,” he told an annual meeting of the American Iron and Steel Institute and the Steel Manufacturers Association.

The delay is fueling uncertainty for metal producers in the U.S. “Clearly more must be done to provide certainty to the market,” said Heidi Brock, chief executive of the Aluminum Association trade group. “We continue to call for permanent, quota-free exemptions…for all countries designated as market economies.”

The aluminum trade group has argued that the tariffs will do little to curb overproduction of aluminum in China that has been weighing down the global aluminum market.

Courtesy: https://wasteadvantage.com