Donald Trump’s trade war and the nasty tariffs that have come along with it are causing the American steel industry to go belly up. More layoffs and falling stock prices are only the beginning for an industry that was once the backbone of the American economy.
A Michigan steel plant has announced it will close at the end of the year, while United States Steel stocks are down 75 percent since Trump’s tariffs were announced. Trump’s intention may have been to “resurrect” American steel, but it’s become too obvious that that isn’t happening, and his trade war is devastating the entire industry.
This week’s bad news comes from Rothbury, Michigan, where the Barber Steel Foundry will close at the end of the year, leaving 61 people unemployed. A spokesman for the company, which is owned by the Pennsylvania-based Wabtec Corporation, told Michigan Live that the closure is due to “declining business conditions.” –Reason
The news from American steel continues to worsen. In July, NLMK Pennsylvania, a subsidiary of a Russian-owned steel company, announced that it would layoff 80 workers amid slowing production. Plant president Bob Miller said the plant’s inability to win exemptions from tariffs were to blame for the lost jobs
In 2002, President Bush Imposed 30% Steel Tariffs; This Is What Happened Next
The worst part, however, is that Donald Trump appears to be oblivious to his destruction of American steel.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1128242506771128320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1128242506771128320&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Freason.com%2F2019%2F09%2F24%2Fmore-layoffs-falling-stock-prices-show-how-trumps-tariffs-have-harmed-american-steelmakers%2F
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1117909721766174720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1117909721766174720&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Freason.com%2F2019%2F09%2F24%2Fmore-layoffs-falling-stock-prices-show-how-trumps-tariffs-have-harmed-american-steelmakers%2F
If this problem of layoffs and falling stocks was limited to just a few plants within the U.S., it might be easily explained away as simply business is slowing down. But that isn’t the case. Steel is in a particulary bad predicament right now.
Domestic steel prices spiked in the months after Trump imposed his tariffs on imported steel. The higher prices (and larger issues, including the uncertainty created by Trump’s trade war) lessened demand for steel and prices have now fallen below pre-tariff levels. Lower prices have translated into less revenue for steelmakers, and the jolt once provided by the tariffs is now gone. The three biggest U.S. steelmakers—Nucor, Steel Dynamics, and U.S. Steel—are all expected to fall short of their third quarter projections.
In a warning to shareholders issued last week, the Pittsburgh-based company said it expects to lose 35 cents per share during the third quarter, after previously projecting losses of just 6 cents per share. Since the steel tariffs took effect in March 2018, U.S. Steel’s stock has fallen by a whopping 75 percent—from a high of $45 in the days after the steel tariffs were announced to a value of just $10.50 per share on Tuesday morning. Nucor stock is down about 25 percent since March 2018, while Steel Dynamics has seen a 30 percent drop. –Reason
“Tariffs are a really ineffective tool to revitalize a domestic industry,” said Clark Packard, a trade policy expert with the R Street Institute, in June.
It’s delusional to believe that the tariffs are somehow good for American businesses and the economy as a whole. It’s been proven otherwise. Steel will continue to suffer under the weight of the government.
Anti-apartheid and Reconstruction ruined those economies. Then, you populated the industrial sectors with them.
Hiroshima vs Detroit meme —
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Wild game runs though some of these places, and there are people with survival gardens and wood burning stoves called pioneers, in what were once the gems of the developed first world.
so what some old inefficient steel mill in Michigan is closing. The Nucor yamato steel mill in Blytheville Ark is expanding and Running 24×7. They make the steel for the new border wall tthats being constructed. the steel mill at Newport ark is still running strong. The Tariffs are what is needed. If not for the threat of Tariffs the Mexican government would never have stepped up and quit enabling the invading caravans of illegals. Stop with the lies your as bad as ABC news.
Wrong yet again Mac “Libtard” Slavo. A new steel mill has just opened in Southern Texas of all places. The companies are shutting down mills in upper midwest states because of labor issues and overbearing regulations and relocating to the free zones. The tariffs are the reason American steel is prospering you f*ing idiot. They are one of the stated primary beneficiaries.
This site is rapidly becoming a CNN acolyte.
“A Michigan steel mill has announced it will close ”
Really?
if so than why didnt they NAME which one ?
there is one that is idle right now , but not closed , and only one of the furnaces at that mill is idle , so the mill is NOT shut down , the other furnace is running and making product
the other unit needs repairs
layed off workers? yes
plus the Mini mills in this country and the State of Michigan are going Balls to the wall , I work in a lot of these facilities ..they are churning out Iron and steel like you wouldnt believe
hell we barely have enough time to repair them on a down day before they are shoving us asside to MAKE MORE STEEL !!
hell some of these places cant even wait for things to be fixed before they start back up after a 1 day shut down for maintenance
I have no idea where this story came from ,, but its not from where i stand and what I see on the ground
hell the one mill in Monroe has put Hundreds of Millions of dollars into making that plant bigger
and soon will be a two ladle shop making double the out put
their billet sizes have gone from 8″x8″ sq to 10×10″ sq ..thats a huge amount when seen over a years production
yeah ..whos reporter is this ? CNN?
Real Fake News