When prices go up for foreign steel and aluminum because of tariffs, domestic producers are given a sort of green light to raise their own prices.
The metals are paired as targets for import duties, but they serve different markets. Domestic steel has spare capacity, aluminum not so much.
Remember those steel and aluminum tariffs that were supposed to target China but also pulled in Europe and Canada? Most of them still exist.
The increases are seen as an indicator of strength, though they might fuel more inflation.
Manufacturer Ball Corp. reporting unprecedented demand for its cans during the pandemic, raises its minimum order fivefold.
The pact lifts U.S. tariffs on European steel and European Union duties on bourbon and Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
Although prices for aluminum and zinc are ticking up, Adam Schaller, vice president of a Michigan metal foundry, says business is growing.
Teo Hunter of Crowns & Hops Brewing is creating a brand that can be “a case study to what it means to be accomplishing racial equity.”
The 10-year high in prices is due to unrest in Guinea, where a key component is mined, and the surge in demand for the green economy.
The president says Canada is flooding the U.S. with imported aluminum and undercutting American companies.
