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US steel traders are lamenting the “nightmare” sudden doubling of Section 232 tariffs by the second Trump administration on Wednesday June 4, with many predicting rising prices despite lukewarm underlying demand. The steel import tariffs 2025 impact on US traders is still uncertain. US President Donald Trump said during an appearance at US Steel’s Irvin Works outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Friday May 30 that he would double Section 232 tariffs from 25% to 50% on steel and aluminium. The news ruined weekends across the nation.
“It’s a nightmare… It’ll destroy the economy, manufacturing — nothing good about it,” a trader said regarding the steel import tariffs 2025 impact on US traders. “Domestic mills will take advantage of this and raise prices. Everything’s been suspended since Friday… I’ve got cargo coming in [this month] and that’s going to be penalized. [The customer] already said they won’t pay for it.”
A West Coast trader said his market is particularly vulnerable to off-the-cuff tariff announcements due to the local reliance on imported steel — which may not be a negative for the Trump administration.
“Importers are scrambling right now, and customers who bought import are also scrambling to ensure they have steel in the next 30-60 days,” he said, adding that it is “probably icing on the cake for the Trump administration — stick it to the states that did not vote for him.” The steel import tariffs 2025 impact on US traders adds another complexity to the market dynamic.
“Materials that have rolled and have shipped or are at the docks about to ship will have to be renegotiated. What means in terms of who shoulders the burder of the additional 25% is yet to be determined,” he said. “So that being said, I fully anticipate domestic mills will raise prices. Not sure if we’ll see announcements, as the optics might look bad. If you call today, you’ll find mills saying they don’t have availability, which is a crock. They are just waiting to see what they can get away with.”
A distributor told Fastmarkets that domestic mills have essentially stopped quoting “because mills haven’t figured out what they’re going to do yet regarding the steel import tariffs 2025 impact on US traders.”
“Mills have paused their quoting,” he said. “We’ve been talking to traders, and they’re definitely concerned depending on how these things shake out. They’ve got steel on the water. They may need to absorb the tariffs or get the mill to do some absorption.”
Yet another trader called the situation “truly interesting times.”
“A 50% mark-up is impossible to catch in the market — to do any business on imports with customers,” he said. “Domestic mills haven’t changed their prices yet, but with 50%, it’ll always be difficult. Maybe not impossible, but difficult for buyers to make economic sense of importing.”
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