Trump Tariffs Lead to Kentucky Steel Sector Recovery

The Trump administration's decision to impose 25% tariffs on imported steel eased the steel crisis and led to an overall recovery in the country's steel sector. Kentucky has witnessed a sharp recovery, reporting significant increases in capacity utilization by smelters. It also led to the opening of several closed steel mills by large steel mills, resulting in a return of jobs in the region.

The introduction of tariffs has raised capacity utilization at domestic US plants to levels in excess of 80% - a level not seen in the past decade. In addition, rough estimates show that steel imports declined by more than 50% between April 2018, when the tariffs took effect, to December 2018. In addition, the supply of steel from the country increased by 5%. In addition, the share of imported steel fell sharply from 29% in April 2018 to just 19% in December 18.

Improving steel market conditions have led several companies to announce their decision to invest in the construction of a new plant and the expansion of existing plants. Nucor recently announced an investment of approximately US $ 1.35 billion to build a new state-of-the-art steel sheet plant in Brandenburg, Kentucky. This project is expected to create 400 jobs. The company also announced its decision to expand its steel plant near Ghent.

Incidentally, the Kentucky steel industry generates over US $ 11 billion, providing nearly 40,000 well-paid jobs in the state.