John, you run the biggest steel company in the country and profits at your company have been picking up ever since the US government put restrictions on cheap Chinese steel imports. Do you see that trend continuing? I definitely, certainly the tariffs that have been imposed have been a positive for our industry And for our company. But frankly Suzie, there's a lot more behind the reasons we are one of the most profitable companies in the United States today. But given that you have these tariffs now, are steel prices where you want them to be? Steel prices frankly, are never quite where we want them to be. I mean, obviously we would like them to be higher. But really what it's about is making sure that we have a level playing field on which to compete. If we get the level playing field, that's all our team needs. We have the best team in the industry. Give them a level playing field and they will be successful. As you know the presidential candidates have been very critical of unfair trade practices. Not only with China, but with other countries. What policies would you like to see when it comes to trade? From the next president. Well, frankly, the laws that are in place, if they are rigorously enforced, will serve us very well. It will provide us a level playing field. So I don't see a need to change the laws as such. The just need to be enforced. Force. Now there needs to be a focus on enforcement of those laws and also circumvention, Dealing with the circumvention issue. Often, we'll get a trade case. And we'll be able to prosecute it successfully. Only to find an offending country, and frankly, it is often China. Working to sneak the product in to other means and basically circumventing the tray cases. So that's an issue. China today does not operate as a market economy, okay? And that's the problem. Government owns about 80 % or more of the steel industry, that's an issue. With China's government owning so much of the industry Profit and loss, it's not a market- driven decision any more. It's all about employment instead of profits. So, the upcoming debate that we'll have at the end of this year that we will have to take a position on is whether or not to grant China market status. And we would argue Vehemently that that should not be done. You know John, not so long ago, there were CEOs who were talking about going global, and talking about the advantages of globalization. Now we're hearing just the opposite, the presidential candidates and the American public are complete Complaining about loss of jobs and loss of business because of this globalization. If the US goes protectionism, what does that mean for American business? Does the work flow against us? I wanna be very careful in saying that, I do not support that theory at all. I am not a believer in protectionism. And I wanna be clear that enforcing our trade loss is not protectionism. Okay, we support free trade. On the record here's the CEO of NuCore saying I support free trade. But free trade means trade that's free from any government interference. Absolutely, there should be a global market. Absolutely, companies and countries should compete on a global basis. That's the best way to get a truly robust economic growth worldwide. That's what free trade is all about, that's what capitalism is all about. So we support free trade as long as it's free and fair trade. Free of government interference. I am not a believer in protectionism at all. [ BLANK_AUDIO ]

Nucor’s CEO Does Not Agree with Protectionism