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The Trump administration has ended Section 232 tariff exemptions for Canada, Mexico and the European Union. Producers from those countries will now be subject to tariffs of 25 percent on steel products and 10 percent on aluminum products.

The latest hires, promotions and retirements in the metals supply chain.

Synalloy Corp., Richmond, Va., will acquire Marcegaglia’s galvanized tube operations in Munhall, Pa., for $10 million. The deal is part of a purchase-leaseback deal for the property.

Today, the United States is on the precipice of a trade war with China. Seventy-five years ago, the country was in a very different kind of war with another Asian nation. Yet one of the solutions to both problems is the same, said ABC Metals President Dan Kendall following a 232 discussion at last month’s CBSA Annual Convention in Bonita Springs, Fla.

Service centers have plenty of reasons to invest in new equipment, not the least of which are recent changes to the U.S. tax code that incentivize capital spending.

World crude steel production totaled 148.3 million metric tons in April, a 4.1 percent increase over the year-ago month, reports Brussels-based World Steel Association. Total production through April is up 4 percent to 575.2 million tons, compared with 553.1 million tons through the first four months of 2017.

In 2017, Mexico was dealing with the fallout of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, particularly given President Donald Trump’s rhetoric toward the country through and after the November vote. A presidential election is again dominating the news in Mexico, but this time it is the Mexican people that will go to the polls.

The U.S. imported 3.7 million net tons of steel and 1.9 million net tons of finished steel in April, reports the Washington, D.C.-based American Iron and Steel Association. Total steel imports were up 12.1 percent, while finished steel imports were up 15.1 percent.

Amid all the rhetoric regarding Section 232, the ongoing renegotiation of NAFTA has kind of gotten lost in the shuffle. Perhaps that’s one reason a self-imposed deadline for a deal came and went last week with no new pact and little fanfare.

The latest hires, promotions and retirements in the metals supply chain.