Iron & Steel Mills NAICS 331110

Jul 23, 2025 - Tariffs Discouraging Imports

• Steel import permit applications declined significantly in June, according to the Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, the American Iron and Steel Institute reports. The Commerce Department reported that 2,250,000 net tons of permit applications were submitted in June, a 7.4% decrease from the 2,428,000 permit tons recorded in May and a 9.4% decrease from the May final imports total of 2,484,000. The decline in steel import permit applications comes as the price of foreign-made steel rises due to tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, which doubled to 50% in June from the 25% tariff imposed in March. In July, Trump threatened new tariffs of at least 25% on South Korea and Brazil starting August 1. Both countries were among the top four exporters of steel to the US last year.
• The Trump administration's pro-tariff, deregulation agenda is playing well among US steel producers, statements from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) attest. The EPA’s March announcement that it’s reconsidering 31 regulations, including several air emissions rules that impact the US steel industry, was enthusiastically welcomed by steel makers. “AISI strongly supports EPA’s reconsideration of emission limits on integrated facilities, taconite ore processors and coke plants,” said CEO Kevin Dempsey, adding the regulations are onerous, costly, and unnecessary. The industry also strongly supports the 25% tariffs the administration has levied on US steel imports, including the closing of a loophole under Section 232 that allowed foreign producers to avoid tariffs. Tariffs on steel imports imposed by the first Trump administration led to increased production and higher steel prices, albeit temporarily, and the creation of iron and steel manufacturing jobs between 2017 and 2019, another short-term boost.

• China’s output of crude steel fell 1.7% in 2024 compared to 2023 to a five-year low on weak demand from its ailing property sector, Reuters reports. As the global leader in steel production and a big exporter of the metal, China has an outsized impact on the global supply and steel prices. Amid weak domestic demand last year, China's steel exports reached their highest level since 2015, sparking global trade tensions as producers in Japan, India, and elsewhere argued that a flood of cheap Chinese steel products was hurting local manufacturers, according to Reuters. President Trump has threatened to impose tariffs of 10% to 20% on steel imports to the US and 60% on goods from China. The US is a net importer of steel. While China is not a significant supplier of steel to the US, Canada and Mexico combined account for about a third of US imports.
• Producer prices for iron and steel mills rose 9.4% in May compared to a year ago, after sinking 15.6% in the previous May-versus-May annual comparison, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Industry producer prices are up sharply year to date as the Trump administration’s aggressive tariff agenda strengthens domestic demand and provides a boost to steel makers’ order books. Still, employment by the industry shrank 1.4% year over year in April, while the average wage at primary metals manufacturers rose 2.2% YoY in May to $29.48 per hour, down $0.50 from its high in March, BLS data show.