U.S. steel prices surge 26% amid Trump tariffs

The U.S. steel industry might be celebrating, but the rest of the country that relies on steel isn’t chuckling much.

Because of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel imports, ranging from 10 to 20 percent, U.S. steel prices keep climbing higher and higher. So far, they have surged as much as 26 percent. With the trade war only intensifying, prices are only rising.

Here is a great chart from the American Enterprise Institute (AEI):

 

Mark Perry explains:

Here’s another example of how Trump’s tariffs are backfiring and putting American producers at great risk. Thanks to double-digit increases in domestic steel prices over the last year, U.S. steel costs are the highest in the world and putting our manufacturers like Ford, GM, and Caterpillar at a significant competitive disadvantage compared to their global rivals.

The chart above shows the annual, double-digit increases through September for the six major Producer Price Index series for US steel prices based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics available here. Interestingly, the BLS tracks more than 100 different price indexes for various steel products, and the six categories above are the major 4, 5 or 6 digit steel price series. As can be seen, the major categories of steel purchased by US producers and manufacturers have all increased in price over the last year by between 18.2% and 25.8%, with an average increase of 22.4%. For those double-digit steel price increases, we can thank the Protectionist-in-Chief’s 25% tariffs on steel imports that started in March of this year.

And it’s those double-digit price increases in a major commodity product used by thousands of US producers that is putting America’s manufacturing sector at great risk. For example Ford Motor Co. is blaming Donald Trump’s tariffs for elevating U.S. steel prices higher than any other market on the planet, and which are slamming the automaker with $1 billion annually in increased costs for materials. “U.S. steel costs are more than anywhere else in the world,” Joe Hinrichs, Ford’s president of global operations, said during Monday’s launch of the Ford Ranger. Separately, GM has also estimated the negative impact of Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum at $1 billion per year in higher costs.

This should cripple Republican support in the midterm elections, especially in regions mostly impacted by these tariffs. However, since the Democrats are so crazy, voters will not be mobilized to vote for the Ds.