On Monday, President Trump announced plans to restore tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports from Brazil and Argentina. The reasoning behind this restoration of the 25 percent steel tariffs is due to currency devaluation from both countries. The tweet released from President Trump reads:

“Brazil and Argentina have been presiding over a massive devaluation of their currencies. which is not good for our farmers. Therefore, effective immediately, I will restore the Tariffs on all Steel & Aluminum that is shipped into the U.S. from those countries. The Federal Reserve should likewise act so that countries, of which there are many, no longer take advantage of our strong dollar by further devaluing their currencies. This makes it very hard for our manufactures & farmers to fairly export their goods.”

Below is the YTD monthly average import levels from Brazil/Argentina.

Monthly average import levels from Brazil

HRC: 0

CRC: 1,000 tons

HDG: 17,200 tons

Slab: 243,000 tons

Monthly average import levels from Argentina

HRC: 640 tons

CRC: 386 tons

HDG: 0

Slab: 0

See below for a breakout of the 2019 HDG imports, by port of entry, from Brazil:

Monthly Avg

Houston: 7,850 tons

New Orleans: 3,850 tons

Tampa: 2,380 tons

Los Angeles: 1,160 tons

Philadelphia: 985 tons

Boston: 900 tons

The biggest impacts will be seen at NLMK, CSI and other convertors that import slab from countries like Brazil.