Why U.S. Steelmakers Won't Win From Trump's Tariffs
President Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs may not result in the intended boom for the U.S. steel industry.
“If the automakers are using less metal, they’re selling less product because of these tariffs, eventually I think it’s going to hurt steel stocks,” said Patrick Sanders, Assistant Managing Editor at U.S. News & World Report.
He pointed out that Bank of America has already downgraded U.S. Steel in light of Trump’s announcement.
The tariffs could also hit employment numbers, said Sanders.
“The last time that we had steel tariffs was in 2003. About 200,000 people lost their jobs. A lot of those were in the auto industry.”
On Thursday, Trump stated he’d slap a 25 percent tax on steel imports and a 10 percent tarriff on aluminum imported into the U.S.
Trump claimed the policy would benefit American industrials, tweeting, “We must protect our country and our workers. Our steel industry is in bad shape.”
Stocks sank on Wall Street after the head of the Federal Reserve warned it could speed up its economy-rattling hikes to interest rates if pressure stays high on inflation.
If measures of the U.S. economy keep coming in hot, as they did in January, the Federal Reserve will likely have to raise interest rates even higher than it has already signaled — and keep them there longer — Chair Jerome Powell will likely warn in testimony to Congress on Tuesday.
The makers of Toblerone are stripping images of Switzerland's famed Matterhorn and the Swiss flag from the packaging of the milk-chocolate treat as they move some production to Slovakia.
Cheddar News looks ahead to Tuesday as Fed Chair Jerome Powell will testify on Capitol Hill about the central bank's response to inflation. Earnings are also on tap from Dick's Sporting Goods, Stitch Fix and Crowdstrike.
