Trump’s steel tariff will help Nucor expand, CEO says

John Ferriola, the CEO of Nucor, said on Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on aluminum and steel would simply promote fairness and help the steel company expand.

“All we’re really doing here is leveling the playing field,” Ferriola told FOX Business’ Trish Regan. “Let’s remember that most countries in the world have some form of tariff or trade tax.”

The president announced the tariffs last week as a part of his initiative to create fair trade with other countries and make America first. The White House said that it plans to release the details of the tariffs this week.

The European Union said it would impose tariffs on products including blue jeans if the Trump follows through with his plan to place tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum.

Ferriola said the EU countries have a longstanding practice of imposing value added taxes on U.S. products.

“For over 30 years, they’ve had a 25% VAT tax on our products going into their countries,” he said.

Jim McGreevy, the CEO of The Beer institute, told FOX Business’ Liz Claman on Monday that the beer industry may lose up 20,000 jobs from the aluminum tariff. Automakers, meanwhile, have spoken out against the steel tariff, criticizing the president for potentially raising their costs.

The Nucor CEO said he expected that the steel tariff will help him expand his business and hire more employees.

“It’ll increase our ability to reinvest in our company,” he said.