The U.S. government's move to delay implementing tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from China weighed on U.S. steel stocks, particularly U.S. Steel Corp. and AK Steel Holding Corp., Bloomberg News reported May 21.
President Donald Trump signed orders enacting tariffs of 25% on global steel imports and 10% on aluminum in March, sparking concerns of a trade war between the U.S. and China, which, according to the report, produces about half of the global crude steel output.
"There's a lot of money in steel stocks on the back of the idea that the industry will have strong protectionism ... If there's any sign of that protectionism waning, you're going to have pressure on the stocks, which is what's driving the weakness today," Vertical Group analyst Gordon Johnson told Bloomberg.
