There’s a lot of tariff talk swirling around these days, but let’s remember what began this trade war: President Donald Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs. Since those tariffs were announced in March, companies have filed more than 28,000 requests for exemptions from the Department of Commerce. As of this week, only 1,000 applications have been […]

 Todd Adams is vice president of Stainless Imports Inc., a small family-owned stainless steel manufacturer based in Florida. We had Adams on the show in early May. His company had applied for an exemption from tariffs on a specific product; the company had “combed the earth” to find a mill that could produce it and found one […]

This week, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced the first official exemptions and rejections for companies that applied for exclusions from steel and aluminum tariffs. For seven lucky companies, that means they’ll get to stop paying the tariffs on specific imports — 25 percent for steel and 10 percent for aluminum. But for Sam Desai, who […]

That’s what Kansas Senator Pat Roberts said to Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross at Wednesday’s Finance Committee hearing. He also asked if Ross would personally call one of his constituents, Mike Bergmeier, who works at a company that makes agricultural equipment in Hutchinson, Kansas. Ross promised to call Bergmeier and he kept that promise. We […]

The cost of legal fees has come up among many we’ve interviewed about the process of applying for exemptions from steel and aluminum tariffs from the Department of Commerce. Kate Karol, counsel at Butzel Long in Detroit, has been working with several clients on their applications and said the people at her firm have spent […]