Nucor Public Affairs Update

Trade Defenses Giving Domestic Steelmakers a Level Playing Field

U.S. trade policy has been a major focal point of President Trump’s second term in office. The Administration’s aggressive trade enforcement efforts over the last year and half are enabling domestic steel producers to compete on an increasingly more level playing field at a time when global markets remain under pressure from excess capacity, unfair trade practices and shifting supply chains.

Last year, the Trump Administration reinstated the full Section 232 tariffs on steel imports by closing loopholes and exemptions that had weakened the program’s impact since it was first implemented in 2018. The Administration also increased the Section 232 tariffs from 25% to 50%, and further broadened the tariffs to include downstream derivative steel products, closing off an avenue foreign adversaries used to avoid the tariffs and export their excess steel capacity to our market. Today, domestic steelmakers are seeing the benefits, as steel imports have fallen by more than 5 million tons, matched by a similar increase in American steel production – all of this occurring at a time when demand for steel has been historically strong.

The Administration is also using tools such as Section 301 tariffs to promote balanced trade. Unlike tariff measures imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (commonly referred to as the ‘reciprocal’ or ‘fentanyl’ tariffs), which were struck down by the Supreme Court, Section 301 tariffs are based on formal evidentiary investigations into targeted imports and have long been upheld by the courts. Like the Section 232 steel tariffs, they will not only strengthen domestic steel production and investment, but they will also avoid supply chain disruptions by exempting key steelmaking raw material inputs, such as pig iron, that cannot be sourced domestically.

These trade enforcement actions matter because global steel overcapacity continues to threaten market-based producers. The OECD projects excess steel capacity could reach 745 million metric tons by 2028, with much of the growth located in China and Southeast Asia. Since the U.S. market is the strongest steel market in the world, bad actors are always looking for new ways to ship their illegally dumped and subsidized steel to our shores.

At the same time, the U.S. is reviewing the USMCA trade agreement with Canada and Mexico. The ongoing negotiations provide an opportunity to strengthen North American supply chains by (1) ensuring that steel used in North American products is melted and poured in North America, and (2) getting Canada and Mexico to agree to take further action to prevent dumped and illegally subsidized foreign steel from entering the North American market.

Strong trade enforcement is supporting continued investment in modern domestic production, helping to sustain jobs, innovation and growth that make the American steel industry competitive globally.