US tariff on steel no direct impact on Steel Asia

Steel Asia Manufacturing Corp., the country’s largest steel producer (Photo: Steel Asia Manufacturing Corp./Facebook)

MANILA — The country’s largest steel producer, Steel Asia Manufacturing Corp., does not see any direct effect from the plan of the government of the United States to increase tariffs on steel and aluminum, its president said in a statement.

“The Philippines is not a big trading partner of the US for steel. So, there will be no direct impact,” said Adrian Cristobal Jr., adding that the US is not a main market for Philippine steel products.

Last week, US President Donald Trump said his government would impose higher tariff on steel and aluminum imports to 25 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

“Our steel and aluminum industries (and many others) have been decimated by decades of unfair trade and bad policy with countries from around the world. We must not let our country, companies and workers be taken advantage of any longer,” said Trump in his Twitter account.

“Indirectly, the new policy may divert commodity steel products from the US market to other markets, including Asia, which could benefit us,” Cristobal said.

The Steel Asia executive also said he sees no challenges on construction supply as a result of the new policy.

Steel Asia is also Southeast Asia’s biggest manufacturers of rebars (reinforcement steel).