The American Iron and Steel Institute applauded the Senate confirmation of Gina Raimondo to serve as secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Raimondo had been serving as the governor of Rhode Island.

The first two panels at the virtual Tampa Steel Conference featured leading voices on the subject of foreign trade of steel products. Following remarks by AISI President Kevin Dempsey, John Packard welcomed in SMA President Philip K. Bell, Trade Attorney Lewis Leibowitz and Chris Shipp, vice president of two Priefert companies, which serve both distribution and manufacturing functions.

The Coalition of American Metal Manufacturers and Users sent a letter to President Joe Biden requesting the termination of Section 232 Tariffs. The coalition is a group of seven trade groups, including the Precision Metalforming Association and the National Tooling & Machining Association.

Optimism continued to grow among metalforming companies in the latest survey from the Precision Metalforming Association, Cleveland.

A promising year for the industrial economy was turned on its head by the biggest public health crisis the globe has seen in more than a century.

Four domestic steel industry associations and the United Steelworkers urged Joe Biden to keep steel tariffs in place in advance of his inauguration. The American Iron and Steel Institute, Steel Manufacturers Association, Committee on Pipe and Tube Imports and American Institute of Steel Construction joined the labor union in the plea to the new president.

Tool steel’s role as an economic precursor was upended during the once-in-a-lifetime pandemic-induced downturn.

NLMK Indiana and NLMK Pennsylvania, NLMK Group’s American division companies, have reached an amicable settlement with the United States government resolving NLMK’s lawsuit challenging the Department of Commerce’s denial of NLMK’s requests for exclusion from Section 232 steel tariffs. The government has agreed to refund NLMK USA a significant portion of the tariffs it had paid, with accrued interest.

The auto shutdowns put the brakes on activity in the spring, but demand has rebounded nicely for the North American sheet market.

Coronavirus, tariffs and energy problems have kept the Canadian industrial economy on edge, though the rest of country’s manufacturing sector has emerged in decent shape.

On land, air or sea, aluminum is playing an increasing role in helping move people and things.

The virtual SMU Steel Summit 2020 spread knowledge among those in the steel industry.

Iowa Senators Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley, who serves as the Senate Finance Committee chairman, have requested Section 232 tariffs be lifted on any steel needed by the state in its recovery from the August derecho storms, particularly steel used for rebuilding grain bins and machine sheds.

The metals industry celebrated the Entry in Force of the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement in July, ushering in a new period of peaceful coexistence of the metals communities in the continent’s three largest economies.

The Trump administration has reinstated Section 232 tariffs on non-alloyed unwrought aluminum from Canada. The decision was criticized by the Aluminum Association.

The metals industry celebrated the Entry in Force of the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement this week. For the North American aluminum industry, the rejoicing was short-lived.

The Aluminum Association is asking for significant reforms to the Commerce Department’s Section 232 tariff exclusion system. The association submitted a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

At the FMA Annual Conference, supply and demand took a backseat to the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak and its effect on the global economy.