Trump steel tariff won’t hurt company with India supply, CEO says
JSW Steel USA CEO John Hritz said Monday that the company is not concerned about the impact of Trump administration tariffs.
The Houston-based company depends on steel from India, Brazil and Mexico, but only the steel from its parent company in India is being slapped with the duties. JSW Steel USA has applied for operations in India to be excluded.
“We have the ability to move and shift things around with regards to the acquisition of raw materials, and I’m just not worried and neither is our parent,” Hritz told Liz Claman during an interview on FOX Business.
U.S. steel prices have skyrocketed since President Donald Trump imposed a 25% tariff on steel in early March with some companies paying almost double what they once did for the metal.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said last week that the administration is busy negotiating exemptions.
“We had a very modest impact on the steel market, and we’re comfortable that it’s not going to have a big impact on the economy,” he told Claman on Thursday.
Hritz said that the initial panic over the rise in steel prices has subsided and the excess supply of steel in the U.S. is receding.
“They have picked exactly the right recipe for dealing with the glut of steel that was being dumped into this country,” said Hritz, referring to members of Trump administration.
JSW Steel USA, located 30 miles outside Houston in Baytown, Texas, is on track to modernizing an existing plant and building a new facility thanks to a $500 million investment from its parent company in India.
“Everything we are doing is for a period of time,” Hritz said on Monday. “We’re moving full fast on the Baytown project.”