According to local Tennessee newspaper the Tennessean, a group of manufacturers in the state sent a letter to Donald Trump urging him to rescind Section 232 tariffs on imported steel.
Executives from six companies—including A-1 Signs, Nashville Wire Products, Onward Manufacturing Co., Stinson Steel, Tennsco and Truform Manufacturing—said the significant price increases on steel, both domestic and imported, are impairing their ability to compete against foreign companies. According to the letter sent last week, steel prices are the highest level since 2008, increasing by 43 percent since this time last year.
"These employees and our businesses depend on access to competitively priced steel to fabricate our products and compete in a global marketplace," the letter stated. "We cannot compete globally when the cost of our most important input has spiked and delivery times are extended."
The executives signing the letter said passing off the higher costs to consumers is difficult because of existing contracts, but also because they risk losing market share. Additionally, while the tariffs have reduced steel imports, they have increased imports of steel-made goods, which the Tennessee companies in the letter said have ended up hurting the steel manufacturers the tariffs are designed to protect.
“This not only will negatively impact our companies, but also US consumers who will be faced with higher prices,” the executives wrote. “Ultimately, the domestic steel mills will feel the consequences as their customer base shrink.”
“We can't absorb significant price increases,” said Stuart Speyer, president of Tennsco. “We don't have those kind of margins.”
According to the letter, US-made steel costs 68 percent higher than average world export prices and 88 percent higher than steel made in China.
“There are foreign products that are easily available that they can switch to whenever they want," Speyer said, adding that companies that are unable to be competitive will lose business. “Ultimately, as we lose business we will have to reduce our employment. We haven't seen the immediate effect, but it will come.”