People who work in the US steel market. Now that new steel tariffs got announced this morning, what's going on and what are the emotions in the steel industry as of now?
People who work for steel manufacturers are probably ecstatic, because they get to increase their prices by 25%. In theory this will spur more competition in domestic steel manufacturing, but I'm doubtful companies will be willing to invest in adding significant capacity when the tarrifs could disappear in the blink of an eye.
And even if they wanted to buy domestic, the production capacity will not appear magically.
Why should they have any feelings? Now US steel will have less competition in US market. That's good for steel mill owners. Workers would just continue to work as earlier. Nothing has changed for them.
Things have changed in the past fifty years, though. The Rust Belt is called that for a reason. One doesn't just "ramp up production" and declare victory.
Of course some mine owners might make more money in the future, but others in the industry will be hurt by the recession. And even people who might make money need stability. It takes time to order expensive shit. And Trump flips on tariffs constantly. So investors are likely to proceed cautiously.