Farm Groups Urge Trump to Dial Down Rhetoric on Steel

President Donald Trump’s administration soon will release the results of its investigation into the impact of steel imports on U.S. national security.

If the Commerce Department finds evidence of a national-security threat from foreign steel shipments, the president is authorized to unilaterally “adjust imports,” which could include limiting or restricting them.

Trump said last week his administration would take measures soon to stop foreign firms from selling steel in the U.S. at artificially low prices. At a public hearing last month, steel executives said the U.S. must build up defenses against a flood of production from China and other nations that offer state support to the industry. The U.S. must look beyond traditional remedies to combat foreign governments’ “ruthless” focus on winning control of the market, said David Rintoul, who heads U.S. Steel Corp.’s tubular business.

“Wait’ll you see what I’m going to do for steel and for your steel companies,” Trump said in Cincinnati. “We’re going to stop the dumping and stop all of these wonderful other countries from coming in and killing our companies and our workers.”

Farm groups, however, feel differently. Several food and agriculture organizations came together this week to urge Trump to refrain from placing restrictions on imports of steel and aluminum. They say the restrictions will boomerang against U.S. food and agriculture exports.

The groups warned that “the aftermath (of such restrictions) could be disastrous for the global trading system and for U.S. agriculture in particular.” The groups pointed out that many countries that export the metals to the U.S. are importers of U.S. agricultural products.

“The potential for retaliation from these trading partners is very real,” they said in a letter to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The farm groups urged the administration to “avoid igniting a trade war.”

Sources: Bloomberg, farm groups