Top leaders of US steelmakers have urged President Donald Trump to resist requests to exclude or exempt steel imports from the upcoming 25% Section 232 tariffs. The chief executives of Cleveland-Cliffs, CMC, Metallus, North American Stainless, Nucor, Tenaris, US Steel, and Zekelman Industries, along with the treasurer of Steel Dynamics, signed a letter sent to Trump on Friday. Trump is set to implement the 25% Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs on March 12, removing all tariff rate quota (TRQ) and non-tariffed agreements.
In the letter, the leaders stated that the original 25% national security 232 tariffs implemented in March 2018 led to a significant drop in steel imports and allowed for over $20 billion in upgrades and new mills. Utilization rates also increased.
US steelmakers have both shuttered facilities and added millions of tons of production since 2018, with closures mainly from older, iron ore-based blast furnaces, while new and upgraded scrap-based electric arc furnace (EAF) mills have added capacity. The steelmakers added that steel tariff exemptions since 2018 allowed for higher import volumes, even for products readily available from domestic suppliers.
US steel import volumes fell in 2018 and 2019, with a decrease of 9.14 million metric tonnes (t) in 2019 compared to 2017, the year before tariffs were imposed. Imports fell by another 5.3 million t in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Imports have fluctuated since then, increasing by 9.57 million t in 2021, before declining year over year in 2022 and 2023. Imports were up by 641,600 t in 2024 from the previous year.
