Nucor applauds Trump administration implementation of steel tariffs

Nucor Corp., Charlotte, N.C., has announced it is pleased that President Trump has moved forward to implement the previously announced tariffs on steel imports.

"We thank the president for taking decisive and meaningful action to address the massive flood of dumped and illegally subsidized steel imports into the United States," said John Ferriola, chairman/CEO/president of Nucor. "For too many years, Nucor and other American steelmakers have dealt with this chronic problem, which is fueled by foreign governments' subsidies and preferential treatment for their steel industries in violation of international trade agreements and free market principles."

The global steel industry has more than 800 million tons of excess production capacity, approximately half of which is from China, Nucor reports. Foreign government interference in global steel markets has disrupted trade flows and created the overcapacity problem. As a result, the U.S. steel industry has endured a prolonged downturn.

While the domestic steel market was stronger in 2017, this financial performance is not sustainable if unfairly traded imports are allowed to continue entering the U.S. market, Nucor says. After-tax profits for U.S. steelmakers still lag behind many other manufacturing sectors. Since 2010, the U.S. steel industry has averaged an after-tax return on sales of well below 5 percent, while total U.S. manufacturing has averaged close to a 10 percent return on sales, reports the steelmaker.

"The Commerce Department was correct in concluding that illegally traded imports impair our national security by limiting the ability of our domestic steel industry to supply national defense and critical infrastructure needs, and the Trump administration is taking the appropriate response to this threat," said Ferriola. "Competing on a level playing field will enable us to keep doing what we have been doing for five decades—invest in our teammates, our facilities, and new technology."