After the Trump administration announced late Monday a 30-day extension of country exceptions from the Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs, the Coalition of American Metal Manufacturers and Users issued a statement saying they are “disappointed” Trump did not act to “end the uncertainty in the metals market.”
Paul Nathanson, spokesperson for the coalition, said in the statement, “Our member companies are already seeing prices spike by more than 30 percent for steel and delivery times have more than tripled in many cases. That’s because a tariff—or the threat of a tariff—on the imports of a product not only raises the price of the imported product, but also allows the domestic industry to raise the price of its products.”
Nathanson said that US domestic steelmakers do not produce enough steel to meet domestic demand, and in many cases they do not supply the type of steel needed for steel-consuming US manufacturers.
“The result is that these manufacturers will pay more for steel and aluminum in the US than anywhere in the world,” Nathanson said. “US manufacturers will therefore lose business to overseas competitors, who pay global market prices for these important inputs and can therefore manufacture and import end products and component parts with significant content of steel and aluminum into US markets at a much lower cost than they can be made by US manufacturers.”
In conclusion, the coalition statement said that quotas are not the solution, because “they will have the same impact as tariffs by restricting access to, and raising the price of, steel and aluminum for US manufacturers.”