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Higher tariffs may be bad for trade, but good for the environment

Oct 16, 2023
Recent research finds that higher tariffs on dirtier imports could reduce carbon emissions.
Steel production in the U.S. is a lot cleaner now than before the 1970s, thanks to the use of more energy-efficient electric arc furnaces. Above, a steel plant in Pennsylvania.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images

U.S. Steel may be for sale, and union workers want a say on the buyer

Aug 25, 2023
The final outcome of the sale could have huge implications for both organized labor and the domestic steel economy.
There's a lot at stake for the employees of U.S. Steel. Whoever buys the company could chose to close plants or move operations overseas.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The steel sector is carbon-intensive. "Green steel" could be a game changer.

May 22, 2023
If you use renewable energy to make hydrogen and use the hydrogen to manufacture steel, the process would be friendlier to the environment.
Green hydrogen could be a way to wean raw steel production off coal, said Aaron Bergman of Resources for the Future. One barrier, though, is the limited supply of the substance.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

China’s efforts to address domestic problems can lead to global challenges

Restrictions on exports like fertilizer and steel have major economic ramifications for trading partners.
When the prices of fertilizer began to increase last year, China moved to restrict fertilizer exports. Above, workers move bags of fertilizer in China's northwest Qinghai province in 2005.
Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images

The bump in the road for improvements to infrastructure

Apr 20, 2022
President Biden is traveling the country to promote the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Inflation could derail or delay that spending.
President Biden is on an infrastructure tour of the US, discussing the recent Bipartisan Infrastructure law, but inflation is causing a few roadblocks.
Scott Eisen/ Getty Images

Biden requires infrastructure bill's materials made in U.S., with exceptions

Apr 18, 2022
U.S. industry doesn't produce enough of the materials, such as steel, to satisfy the need, so this may be more of an aspiration than a policy.
Biden is calling for materials funded by the bipartisan infrastructure bill to be sourced domestically, but that's easier said than done.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Why Russia's invasion of Ukraine is likely to raise costs for restaurants and food manufacturers

Mar 21, 2022
Russia has nickel. Nickel is a component of some stainless steel. And restaurants, food manufacturers, and breweries need stainless steel.
Nickel's volatile price can affect the food industry, as nickel is a component of stainless steel – an essential facet of the industry.
mofles / Getty Images

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Trump-era export tariffs are still rattling British steelmakers

Jan 19, 2022
President Biden lifted a 25% tariff from European Union steel, but British steelmakers complain that they’re being unfairly penalized.
Then-President Donald Trump poses with the 2018 steel import proclamation, which added a 25% tariff on imported steel. President Joe Biden has lifted the tariff for countries in the European Union but not for the United Kingdom.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

U.S. and EU trade agreement seeks reduction of "dirty steel"

Nov 1, 2021
The pact lifts U.S. tariffs on European steel and European Union duties on bourbon and Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
President Joe Biden at the G-20 summit in Rome, where the U.S. announced it would roll back tariffs imposed on imported EU steel and aluminum.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Trade disputes high on Biden's European trip agenda

Jun 9, 2021
Tariffs on wine, cheese, steel and aluminum are among the issues to be resolved.
The first couple arrives in England ahead of the G-7 summit. Biden is expected to try to resolve  disputes involving tariffs on wine, cheese, steel and aluminum.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images