Shake, Battle and Roll as north American steelmakers support Trump tariffs

The Town Hall Forum at this year’s AISTech 2025 convention and exposition in Nashville, Tennessee ran with the title of Shake, Battle and Roll and as delegates took their seats in the Karl F Dean Grand Ballroom, battle commenced. Or rather, it didn’t, as everybody appeared to be in agreement, which was good news for the North American steel industry, but not so good for steel industries elsewhere in the world; except, of course, the United Kingdom, which – while I was in Nashville – had its slate wiped clean.

Nicholas R Kohlhas, senior vice president of operations and steelmaking at Cleveland Cliffs, said 25% was not enough, telling the audience: “We look at tariffs as a good thing.” He supported across-the-board tariffs with no exemptions and spoke of how there were some products that needed help due to low demand and low pricing. Imports, he argued, played a big role in plant closures.

Dan M Killeen, vice president, Gary Works, for US Steel, agreed, claiming he had been a huge supporter of Section 232. “The Government has made a stand to protect what we value,” he added, stating that tariffs will provide a lot of sustainability moving forward.

While there are counter arguments regarding tariffs, one has to respect the American stance. As Dan J Keown, vice president of Steel Dynamics put it, ‘tariffs are a net benefit to the US steel industry’, arguing that 25% was a good starting point and calling for a targeted approach for the biggest offenders. Perhaps the last word should go to Trevor Saunders of DJJ (part of Nucor) who said a healthy and vibrant steel industry was the end goal as, indeed, was competing on a level playing field. “The health of the industry matters.”