US hot-rolled import prices stagnant amid Trump’s tariff actions

Published by: Alesha Alkaff<>
26 Feb 2025 @ 21:51 UTC

Prices for hot-rolled steel into the US were unchanged on Wednesday February 26, with many market participants keeping their distance from the imports market while tracking the potential impact of 25% tariffs on steel imports set to take effect on March 12.

Fastmarkets’ fortnightly assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, import, ddp Port of Houston was flat at $660-690 per short ton ($33.00-34.50 per hundredweight) on Wednesday.
I have not heard any new import offers this week. The traders I have spoken to are waiting to see what will happen with tariffs. There are still a lot of questions unanswered, a buyer said.
A mill source told Fastmarkets they expect prices to retreat over the next few months as importers will be eager to sell tons into US market and absorb the tariffs.
We must remember the markets of Europe, Asia and South America are fairly weak and those mills need to maintain cash flow, the mill source said.
HRC imports were already limited to Mexico, Canada, Korea and Japan. With the 25% duties hitting these countries, HRC imports will be greatly reduced, a trader said.
In January, the US was licensed to import 162,812 tonnes of hot-rolled sheet, down by 19.41% from the 202,033 tonnes of material shipped in December 2024, according to data from the US International Trade Administration’s steel import monitoring system.
The use of tariffs has been a key element of the first month of Trump’s second term in office, with the president repeating history by restoring the full 25% tariffs on steel imports from all countries that he initially imposed in 2018.
Days before signing the Executive Order reinstating the 25% tariffs on February 10, Trump implemented 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico on February 1, then shortly after delayed imposing them until March 4.
However, during Trump’s first cabinet meeting held on Wednesday, Trump said that the tariffs would be implemented on April 2, saying he was not stopping the tariffs and that “the damage has been done.
Trump has also threatened to impose tariffs of around 25% on automobile and semiconductor imports to the US on February 18, which could take effect as soon as April 2.
Domestic steel firms cheer Section 232 Despite the continued sense of confusion around when the tariffs will be faced in the steel market, steel companies in the US have been vocally supportive of the move.
The Section 232 tariffs are necessary to curbing steel overproduction and overcapacity, integrated steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs said in the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Tuesday February 25.
Multinational recycling company Sims Ltd expects the import tariffs on steel to overall benefit the US and to have a positive effect on the company, chief executive officer Stephen Mikkelsen said on Tuesday.
US electric arc furnace steel producer Nucor told investors on January 28 that Trump’s aggressive tariff plan was needed to balance the domestic market in the US.
Import CRC, HDG Fastmarkets’ fortnightly assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, import, ddp Houston increased to $920-940 per ton on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the fortnightly assessment for steel hot-dipped galvanized 0.012-inch G30, ddp Houston stood at $1,100-1,180 per ton on Wednesday.
There is little activity in the import hot-dipped galvanized market, the trader said, as foreign mills are waiting for the preliminary determination of the anti-dumping and countervailing duty case of corrosion-resistant products.
The US International Trade Administration announced preliminary countervailing duties (CVD) on certain corrosion-resistant steel products (CORE) from Canada, Brazil, Mexico and Vietnam on February 10.
Commerce will publish its final determinations on June 17, 2025.
The CORE trade case, initiated in September 2024, commenced investigations of imports from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.
Steel Dynamics Inc, Nucor, US Steel, Wheeling-Nippon Steel were among the petitioners of the case.
Import, domestic plate Fastmarkets’ assessment for steel medium plate, import, ddp Houston increased to $820-880 per ton on Wednesday, up from $740-780 per ton in the previous assessment.
Domestically, the plate market spiked, following a Nucor price increase of $160 per ton announced on Monday February 24.
Fastmarkets’ weekly assessment for steel cut-to-length plate carbon grade, fob mill US was $53 per cwt on Tuesday, up by 17.78% from $45 per cwt on February 18.