Hello everyone,
Remember the steel and aluminum tariffs?
The move by the Trump Administration is moving forward, with Delaware and other states likely to pay a price for helping to bolster a sliver of the economy.
How the tariffs will take shape remains a mystery. We could see exceptions for nations such as Canada and Mexico. Then again, we might not.
There was a time when the tariffs might have aided several hundred families. However, the remains of the Evraz Claymont Steel plant were hauled away as work gets underway on the redevelopment of the site.
Evraz, a company controlled by Russian Oligarch Roman Abramovich overpaid for the steel mill more than a decade ago.
While Evraz made some modest improvements at the site and worked to become a better neighbor, a heavy debt load and a flood of foreign steel doomed the mini-mill that melted scrap steel from cars and other sources.
Abramovich was in the news a while back for giving a yacht to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Right now, Abramovich and fellow oligarchs who have extensive holdings in the UK, are feeling some blast furnace-like heat, after the use of Russian nerve gas on a former spy and his daughter.
Meanwhile, Delaware has zero steel production jobs. By contrast, the number of jobs at companies that use and fabricate steel number about 7,000, Marketwatch reported.
The good news, if you want to call it that, comes from the First State having among the lowest percentages of jobs in metals-related businesses. It’s a reflection of the hollowed-out manufacturing sector that lost two auto plants and the steel mill.
The effects on Delaware could be worse if other nations retaliate and a trade war ensures that affects other products made in the state.
At least one report indicates that the steel tariffs are aimed at getting the attention of China and dealing with its trade policies.
That’s possible. But for now, the news for Delaware is not positive for a state undergoing a painfully slow economic recovery.
Here’s to a smooth Monday and the hope that the next ‘nor’easter only brushes the area. This newsletter returns tomorrow. – Doug Rainey, publisher
