US President Donald Trump’s trade policy will boost the competitiveness of the country’s domestic steel industry, Phil Bell, president of the Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA) told Fastmarkets in an interview during the Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI)-SMA Annual Meeting on Monday, 3 March.
“The steel industry is going to get more competitive, and [Trump’s] trade policy is going to be a big part of that. To make sure that the playing field is level, you’re going to see more countries adopt trade policies similar to ours, understanding that if you want access to our market, that’s a right that has to be earned,” Bell said on Monday.
President Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel products coming from Mexico and Canada took effect on 4 March, after the president floated the idea on February 1, then delayed tariff action for a month.
The steel industry, which consists of interconnected global supply chains, has the sophistication they need to navigate Trump’s approach to implementing tariffs against all trade partners, Bell said, adding that most market participants have had almost eight years to figure out their supply chain relationships and their procurement strategies.
In Trump’s first term in office during 2017-2021, he imposed 25% tariffs on US imports of steel and aluminium. President Joe Biden then kept the tariffs in place and in fact increased a slew of tariff rates on imports from China in May 2024.
Future of USMCA & Trump steel tariffs
Trump’s moves to slap tariffs on major trading partners Canada and Mexico could upend the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement [USMCA], a free trade agreement among the trio that Trump himself signed into law in his first term, in replacement of the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta).
“This is a clear signal from the [Trump] administration that it’s time for our trade partners to get serious about their trade relationship with the US and it’s also time for our USMCA partners to live up to the full spirit of the USMCA,” Bell said.
The USMCA, which Bell called a landmark agreement, is up for review in July 2026, providing an opportunity for the agreement to be strengthened, through more transparency and data reporting and using a melted and poured standard, Bell added.
In July 2024, the Biden administration imposed a “melt and pour” requirement for steel imports from Mexico that were made elsewhere.
“That way, we actually know the origin of steel products, you can say that not only did this product come from Mexico or Canada but I can show you it was melted and poured here as well and that will alleviate a lot of the concerns about transshipment and evasion,” Bell said.
Bell told Fastmarkets that It is vital for the domestic steel industry to move forward with the trade policies under the Trump administration to enable trade partners to understand the “tremendous privilege” it is to be able to sell steel products in the US.
“If you’re going to do that, you have to be willing to pay a price to do so,” he said.
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