Steel stocks are sliding despite Trump saying he won't back down on tariffs
- The Republican Party is split on whether to support or oppose President Donald Trump's proposed taxes on imported steel and aluminum.
- Shares of the two largest producers, US Steel and Steel Dynamics, were slipping despite the President saying 'we're not backing down.'
Shares of two of the largest largest American steel manufacturers are sliding Monday, despite President Donald Trump saying "we're not backing down" in regards to new tariffs on imported metals.
US Steel was down 1.52% and Steel Dynamics was down 1.86% Monday afternoon. Together the manufacturing giants are worth a total of more than $19 billion in market value.
Trump last week said a new tax of 25% on imported steel and 10% on imported aluminum could come this week. Since then, many Republicans have split with the White House on the issue, with GOP Senator Ben Sasse saying the move "will kill American jobs."
Even Trump's own pick for chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, said that "the tariff approach is not the best approach. The best approach is to deal directly with the people who are affected rather than falling back on tariffs."
US Steel has now gained 4.8% since news of the tariffs first crossed news wires. One analyst told Business Insider that the new taxes could make the company's operating income "laughably high," but that many details are still in the air.
Shares of the company are up 19.8% in the past year.