They haven't even officially gone into effect. Now, you can avoid this by buying American, you might say. But let's see how the largest American steel producer just responded. Hmm, you mean tariffs cause price increases even when you buy domestically? Wow! Who would have thought?
I've seen pre-emptive price increases on products before the tarrifs are even implemented. Any excuse to raise prices.
Last time the idiot president did this around 2017 the price of rebar went through the roof … like doubled in a couple months…. And guess what… it didn’t come down when the tarriffs ended. Imagine that…
It is incorrect to think tariffs dont affect US made pricing. If Chinese steel prices go up there will be more demand for US Steel which will drive prices up. Its math.
Fwiw From my experience American made rebar is better than Chinese. American is stiffer and harder to bend. My pool had extra rebar installed due to the amount of clay in the soil. At first my pool company used Chinese rebar than switched to American for reasons I don’t know. The workers bent the Chinese rebar easily. One guy would bend it on his knee using a knee brace. Once the American rebar was used they had to use benders. It pissed the workers off because it took longer to cut and bend.
This is the reason I’m not sweating the Trump presidency like others because his ideas fail. The only thing Trump has done is signed some meaningless EO’s and it’s unlikely he’ll get any meaningful legislation passed that do the things he promised during his campaign. Trump will fail as will MAGA. In fact it already is failing. Public sentiment will shift away from Trump toward the left, and there isn’t another MAGA out there that has his charisma to replace him. Get the popcorn ready because the circus is in town with Trump driving the clown car.
we've been dumbly protecting steel for at least 150 years. Of course it needs protection b/c it has been kept weak with protections.
economics. This is why expected inflation is a main cause of inflation. If you think prices are going up in the future, that increases demand NOW.
