Trump's tariffs might be a factor in 'Steelmageddon'

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 8 July 2019

President Trump proudly announced the resurgence of the U.S. steel industry last July.

At the time, things were going pretty well, Bloomberg reports. Trump's steel tariffs meant fewer imports, which meant an increase in demand domestically, which meant higher profits. Trump's tax cuts and the promise that protectionism wasn't going anywhere also encouraged domestic producers to add more capacity.

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Whether Trump's tariffs are to blame for the slowdown and, thus, in a cruel twist of fate, for harming the industry the president once boasted of reviving, is up for debate. Analysts, though, think the tariffs at least have played a role in the decline — by instilling premature confidence in the industry. Nucor Chief Executive Officer John Ferriola said that the decline is part of an unavoidable "evolution," that was "sped up" by the president's protectionist trade policies.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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