This afternoon in metals news, experts say that despite the delay in the Section 232 investigation of steel imports, they still expect President Donald Trump to impose tariffs, U.S. steel production is up 2.9% in the year to date and copper and steel output from Kazakhstan rose significantly from January to July.
Section 232 Tariffs Still Coming, Experts Say
The wait continues for the Trump administration’s announcement of what it is going to do at the conclusion of its Section 232 investigation into steel imports.
The investigation was launched in April, and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross has 270 days to present President Donald Trump with a report (making for a January deadline).
An announcement was expected to be made by the end of June, but that self-imposed deadline came and went without an announcement. However, despite the delay, some industry experts believe Trump still plans to impose tariffs, according to a report by Reuters.
Trading partners around the world, including the European Union, in recent months have warned of the possibility of retaliatory measures should the U.S. move forward with tariffs (or a quota system, or a hybrid tariff-quota measure).
A Trump administration official told Reuters the Section 232 review is active and is “still under the final stages of review within the administration.”
U.S. Raw Steel Production Up 2.9%
Per data released in the American Iron and Steel Institute’s weekly report, U.S. raw steel production in the year to date is up 2.9% compared with the same time frame in 2016.
Adjusted year-to-date production through Aug. 12 was 55,650,000 net tons, up 2.9 percent from the 54,106,000 net tons during the same period last year, according to the report.
For the week ending Aug. 12, production was up 1% from the week ending Aug. 5, up to 1,780,000 net tons from 1,762,000 net tons the previous week.
Copper, Steel Output Up, Zinc Output Down in Kazakhstan
Output of copper and steel rose significantly from January to July in Kazakhstan compared with the same time frame in 2016, according to Reuters.
Copper output rose 5.7% and steel output rose 10.1% for the first seven months of the calendar year.
Meanwhile, zinc output dropped 0.9%.
by Fouad Egbaria