[Fortune] The U.S. has reached an agreement to drop steel and aluminum tariffs on the two countries in return for preventing Chinese steel from coming over their borders into the U.S.In a speech before the National Association of Realtors, President Trump said, "I’m pleased to announce that we’ve just reached an agreement with Canada and Mexico and will be selling our product into those countries without the imposition of tariffs or major tariffs," according to Bloomberg.
This would remove one barrier the new USMCA agreement, the replacement for NAFTA, has faced in getting passage from Congress. Reactions have been relatively positive. "It’s a pretty good agreement," said Usha Haley, a professor of management and director of the Center for International Business Advancement at Wichita State University and co-author of Subsidies to Chinese Industry. "It looks promising and I think it’s a win for Trump."
"One client of mine, who fabricates and sells critical components to the world’s leading airplane manufacturers, has resorted to stockpiling their own supply of internationally sourced steel in their parking lot as trade negotiations play out," Carlos Martinez, a principle with southern California-based accounting firm Haskell & White, wrote in an email to Fortune. "Today’s news comes as a relief as it brings some clarity to metal pricing in North America."
The United Steelworkers sent a statement to Fortune that quoted USW International President Leo W. Gerard as saying, "Today’s agreement will help restore confidence and stability to the North American steel and aluminum markets. From day one, we made it clear that the real problem isn’t Canada or Mexico, but those countries that are undermining the trading system through predatory trade practices and non-market policies that have created massive overcapacity and trade imbalance."
After the Bay Bridge bolt debacle, I'd recheck the metallurgy of any steel products from China