Metal Valve Manufacturers NAICS 33291

Jun 8, 2025 - Tariffs Impacting Small Fabricators

• Steep tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to the US have a direct impact on small fabricators’ cost structures, bidding strategies, and overall competitiveness, according to Exiil, a provider of software to metal manufacturers. In June, President Trump doubled steel and aluminum import tariffs to the US to 50%. Russian aluminum imports carry a tariff of 200%. Beyond raw metal, the US has increasingly added “downstream” or “derivative” products – such as stamped parts, fasteners, tubing, wire, or other items with high steel/aluminum content – to existing Section 232 tariffs. As a result, metal fabricators are facing higher materials costs. Even businesses that source metals domestically are likely to pay more as US mills often raise their prices when foreign competitors’ costs go up – because the “floor” of the market shifts.
• Tariffs imposed by the Trump administration are pressuring the metal value industry and its customers, according to the Valve Manufacturers Association. In March, President Trump raised steel and aluminum import tariffs to the US by 25%, ending all country exemptions, in addition to hiking tariffs on China, Reuters reports. The metal tariffs are also affecting users of metal valves – including the energy industry – saddling them with higher costs and longer lead times. On April 2, Trump issued an executive order and announced a minimum 10% reciprocal tariff on all US trading partners, with many countries being assessed more. However, amid an escalating trade war, Trump paused an additional hike in tariffs on global trading partners for 90 days, leaving an additional baseline 10% tariff on all imports from all countries in place, on top of the tariffs on steel and aluminum and tariffs imposed on individual countries like China, Canada and Mexico, according to Reuters.

• While President Trump’s “Drill Baby Drill” mantra may be music to valve makers’ ears, another American oil boom isn’t in the cards soon, The Wall Street Journal reported in February. The nation’s oil and gas producers – a major customer industry for metal valve manufacturers – are pushing back against the president’s plans to boost drilling, focusing on controlling costs and returning cash to investors rather than ramping up production, according to WSJ. “Companies are no longer pursuing growth at all costs,” Kaes Van’t Hof, president of West Texas oil producer Diamondback Energy, told WSJ, adding “Shale is in a much different phase of its life cycle.” Fear of low oil prices – the result of previous booms in the US oil patch – is keeping producers from drilling more oil. US oil production is already at record high levels, shattering records in 2024 by surpassing the previous record set in 2023.
• Producer prices for metal valve manufacturers rose to a new high in May, increasing 6.2% compared to a year ago, after rising 2.9% in the previous annual comparison, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Metal valve makers are facing rising input costs due to import tariffs of 25% on steel and aluminum imposed by President Trump in March and later doubled to 50% in June. Meanwhile, employment by the industry grew 1.9% year over year in April compared to a year ago, while average industry wages for fabricated metal product manufacturers rose 4.9% over the same period to a new high of $28.06 per hour, BLS data show.