Trump’s 50% steel tariffs have yielded mixed results – S&P Global

A year has passed since U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum imports in June 2025. Officials predicted that this move would revitalize the country’s industrial base and protect domestic producers from cheap imports. So far, the reform has yielded mixed results: steelmakers have gained significant advantages, while consumer sectors have faced rising costs. Eurometal reports this, citing S&P Global.

Thanks to the tariffs, steel imports to the U.S. have plummeted. This has allowed domestic prices to outpace global prices and enabled American mills to gradually increase production and capacity utilization despite steady demand.

The industry is experiencing a wave of capital investment totaling $50 billion. In particular, Nucor Corp. is actively expanding its operations by building a new smelting shop in Arizona, a micro-mill in North Carolina, and galvanizing lines in Indiana and South Carolina. Over the past year, several hundred new jobs have been created in the steel industry.

At the same time, the promised production boom for end-users of steel has not materialized. Tariffs have significantly increased costs for the processing sectors.

• Price surge: From April 2025 to April 2026, the producer price index for iron and steel rose by 10.4%, and for steel products by 13.3%. As of the end of May, the price of hot-rolled steel coils in the U.S. reached $1,201.50 per metric ton, more than double the cost of similarproducts in Southeast Asia ($571).
• Construction Slowdown: higher raw material prices have increased construction costs. In March 2026, nonresidential construction spending fell by 2.1% compared to the same period last year. This was also influenced by the completion of major infrastructure projects from the Biden administration.
• Supply chains: the automotive and steel industries are forced to renegotiate contract terms to recoup tariff costs due to declining profitability.

“For manufacturers working with tariffed materials, decisions to switch suppliers, redesign products, or relocate capacity to the U.S. require a long-term vision and confidence in a return on investment,” notes Mark Gilbert, global head of BCG’s Geopolitics Center.

Despite local successes among steelmakers, overall employment in the U.S. manufacturing sector remains stable at 12.6 million workers. The number of jobs directly at steel mills in March stood at 84,300, which is nearly on par with last year’s figures. Experts estimate that the U.S. government will need to take additional policy steps to stimulate the manufacturing sector, including reforming environmental regulations and the permitting system.

It should be noted that, according to EUROFER, since the U.S. raised tariffs on steel to 50%, exports of steel products from the EU to the U.S. have fallen by one-third. Three quarters after the introduction of these tariffs (June 4, 2025), this figure had fallen by 34% year-on-year—to 1.94 million tons.