• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’ 

2

Despite a $500 million net worth, Shaq just finished his fourth degree. He warns graduates: 'Your character will take you further than your resume'

3

Meet a 21-year-old community college student who's going to China as the first American woman welder in the trades Olympics

1

Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’ 

2

Despite a $500 million net worth, Shaq just finished his fourth degree. He warns graduates: 'Your character will take you further than your resume'

3

Meet a 21-year-old community college student who's going to China as the first American woman welder in the trades Olympics
LeadershipOneTime

Why President Trump’s ‘Buy American’ Order May Not Help U.S. Steel

By
Reuters
Reuters
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Reuters
Reuters
Down Arrow Button Icon
April 19, 2017, 7:47 AM ET

U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Buy American, Hire American” executive order on Tuesday left questions about how the government would enforce the order and whether it would make a real difference in output and employment, according to steel executives and analysts.

“Buy American” provisions already exist in U.S. law but policing them has been difficult because of waivers granted to foreign companies that undercut their U.S. counterparts on pricing. Earlier on Tuesday, Trump ordered a review of government procurement rules favoring American companies to see if they are actually benefiting, especially the U.S. steel industry.

Trump’s executive order promises to properly police those provisions, but avoided detail about how that will happen.

Bill Hickey, president of Chicago-based Lapham-Hickey Steel, which has seven steel mills in the Midwest and Northeast, said he has heard talk of “Buy American” for decades, but American or foreign contractors frequently find loopholes to use imported steel.

“Politicians all talk the same, but at the end of the day it just doesn’t work,” Hickey said, citing waivers to existing provisions.

Charles Bradford of Bradford Research said focusing on “Buy American” for U.S. steel does not take into account that some steel products—including tin plate and semi-finished products—are not made in the United States. So if enforced improperly, it could cause supply problems in a U.S. market in which up to 25% of steel was imported in the first quarter of this year.

“The people who have pushed for this don’t have a clue and they don’t know math,” said Bradford.

Cutting off the supply of goods not made in the United States would create fresh problems for U.S. companies, he said.

In the construction industry, there also are concerns over “too strict a definition of what constitutes U.S.-made steel products,” said Kenneth Simonson, chief economist of the Associated General Contractors of America.

Simonson cited concerns with steel that might have been melted down from scrap metal that could have come from outside the United States, for example, and tracing its origins before that point.

Trump’s White House track record so far also helps fuel skepticism inside the industry.

Instead of bold action promised last year by then-candidate Trump on the North American Free Trade Agreement, on China, and free trade agreements, the new administration has “not shown much evidence of doing so,” said KeyBanc Capital Markets steel analyst Philip Gibbs.

“I’m a lot less optimistic than I was three-and-a-half months ago because so far what I’ve seen coming out of the Trump administration is the same as the prior administration,” he added.

As a result, Gibbs said investors should dial back expectations that Trump will do anything meaningful on trade, or on infrastructure which is where such an order could make a difference.

Investors seemed to shrug off Tuesday’s executive order. Nucor (NUE) shares closed up 0.2% at $57.33, AK Steel Holding (AKS) gained a penny to end at $6.32 and United States Steel (X) closed down 0.5% at $28.73.

AK Steel did not respond to requests for comment. Nucor and U.S. Steel both welcomed the president’s executive order.

The move was welcomed by labor unions. The United Steelworkers said that under current practice, “contractors often try to avoid the law through loopholes to buy cheap and often substandard foreign products like many from China.”

Thomas Gibson, chief executive of lobby group the American Iron and Steel Institute, said in a statement that “Buy American” provisions “are vital to the health of the domestic steel industry, and have helped create manufacturing jobs and build American infrastructure.”

Veteran steel industry analyst Michelle Applebaum said while it remains to be seen how thoroughly the Trump administration will police the steel industry, the executive order sends a clear message to steel importers.

“Trump has just created more risk for anyone who wants to import steel,” she said. “If he puts money behind enforcement that will force people to play by the rules and that will be a good thing.”

About the Author
By Reuters
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Leadership

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Leadership

elon
SuccessIPOs
SpaceX IPO targets $28.5 trillion total addressable market, mission to ‘make life multiplanetary’ and understand ‘true nature of the universe’
By Nick LichtenbergMay 20, 2026
9 hours ago
Elon Musk sits with his fists together, looking up.
Commentaryspace
SpaceX will be worth trillions, but the space station that made it possible is worth even more — if we don’t squander it
By Tejpaul BhatiaMay 20, 2026
10 hours ago
Clinical Psychologist Daniel Wendler
ConferencesWorkplace Innovation Summit
A ‘proudly autistic’ workplace expert says putting neurodivergent employees in a typical office is like dropping a polar bear in Austin, Texas
By Tristan BoveMay 20, 2026
11 hours ago
Pay transparency is exposing a bigger problem: Most companies can’t explain why they pay what they pay
Workplace CultureWorkplace Innovation Summit
Pay transparency is exposing a bigger problem: Most companies can’t explain why they pay what they pay
By Sydney LakeMay 20, 2026
11 hours ago
Professor Jeff DeGraff.
SuccessWorkplace Innovation Summit
‘We’ve given them the short end of the stick’: Business school dean says AI could eliminate many jobs for young people—even as they lead innovation
By Preston ForeMay 20, 2026
12 hours ago
A dating expert says ghosting and quiet quitting are the same problem at their core, and corporate life has more to learn from romance than it admits
Workplace CultureWorkplace Innovation Summit
A dating expert says ghosting and quiet quitting are the same problem at their core, and corporate life has more to learn from romance than it admits
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezMay 20, 2026
12 hours ago

Most Popular

Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’ 
Workplace Culture
Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’ 
By Preston ForeMay 19, 2026
1 day ago
Despite a $500 million net worth, Shaq just finished his fourth degree. He warns graduates: 'Your character will take you further than your resume'
Success
Despite a $500 million net worth, Shaq just finished his fourth degree. He warns graduates: 'Your character will take you further than your resume'
By Preston ForeMay 20, 2026
16 hours ago
Meet a 21-year-old community college student who's going to China as the first American woman welder in the trades Olympics
Future of Work
Meet a 21-year-old community college student who's going to China as the first American woman welder in the trades Olympics
By Mike Householder and The Associated PressMay 17, 2026
4 days ago
The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises
Politics
The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises
By Jake AngeloMay 12, 2026
8 days ago
Dr. Bernice King on why companies that walked back DEI were never truly committed: 'If you retreat that quick…that reveals who you really are'
Workplace Culture
Dr. Bernice King on why companies that walked back DEI were never truly committed: 'If you retreat that quick…that reveals who you really are'
By Preston ForeMay 19, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of oil as of May 20, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of May 20, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerMay 20, 2026
17 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.