WASHINGTON: Feeling the pinch from President Donald Trump’s protectionist trade policies, the American metal industry has rallied its forces to plead for changes.
Employees from the Texas steel pipe producer Borusan Mannesmann Pipe sent some 4,500 post cards to Trump and members of Congress, on behalf of their employer in the Houston suburb of Baytown — which imports unfinished pipes from Turkey.
Trump in March slapped duties of 25 on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum, and at the start of June removed temporary exemptions for major producers Canada, Mexico and the European Union.
While Trump says the border taxes protect US national security and have breathed life into time-ravaged American producers, about 21,000 businesses have sought exemptions from the tariffs for foreign-made goods, arguing that the duties threaten their import-dependent bottom lines.
But three months after the first requests, the government has reviewed only 98, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in recent congressional testimony. Of these, just 42 were approved.
BMP CEO Joel Johnson was among the very first business leaders to seek product exemptions for the Houston pipe company. But when he got no response, he decided to make his case directly, along with thousands of others.
“We made an offer to President Trump and Secretary Ross which was very simple,” he said.
“We did a request for a two-year exemption of the tariffs to allow us to build a new factory in Baytown and at the end of these two years we will stop importing and we will be 100 percent US-made pipe.”
The proposition should appeal to Trump, given his “America first” agenda, said Johnson, adding that it would bring his workforce to 437 people from 267.
In Baytown, unemployment is two and a half times the national average at 10 percent, and Johnson warned the company will be forced to lay workers off if it faces an annual hit of $25 million to $35 million from the tariffs.
Republican Texas lawmaker Brian Babin made the same case to Ross last week.
Others are opting to play hardball.
The American Institute for International Steel, an industry body representing companies that depend on steel imports, sued the Trump administration last week before the US Court of International Trade in New York, challenging the legality of the steel tariffs.
The organization is calling on the courts to strike down the 1962 legal provision Trump used to impose the new duties, claiming it is unconstitutional.
Sometimes called the “national security clause,” Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 gives the US president extraordinary powers over foreign trade, a power the US Constitution generally confers on Congress.
“Section 232 allows the president to consider virtually any effect on the US economy as part of ‘national security,’” AIIS President Richard Chriss said in a statement.
The federation says many American business are suffering under the tariffs while ports and workers have seen a sharp decline in their businesses’ throughput.
So far, the Federal Reserve system’s regional manufacturing indices show general manufacturing activity remains quite healthy by historical standards.
But steel prices have risen sharply and fast. In October, a ton of hot-rolled steel coil went for $577, its lowest level in a year, Johnson said.
As of Friday, it was closing in on twice that at just under $917.
As the metal tariffs battle rages, a second set of Trump tariffs on Chinese goods is due to take effect July 6, while US businesses are being hit with retaliatory tariffs from Canada, Mexico, the EU and China.
The Trump administration also announced in late May it was considering using Section 232 to slap duties on the hundreds of billions in autos imported annually, a prospect economists say would make America’s trade wars far more serious.
US metal manufacturers mobilize against Trump tariffs
US metal manufacturers mobilize against Trump tariffs
- US President Donald Trump in March slapped duties of 25 on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum
- The American Institute for International Steel sued the Trump administration last week before the US Court of International Trade in Yew York
AI will never replace human creativity, says SRMG CEO
- Speaking to Maya Hojeij, senior business anchor at Asharq with Bloomberg, Jomana R. Alrashid expressed pride in SRMG platforms that had absorbed and adopted AI
RIYADH: Jomana R. Alrashid, CEO of Saudi Research and Media Group, highlighted how AI cannot replace human creativity during a session at The Family Office’s “Investing Is a Sea” summit at Shura Island on Friday.
“You can never replace human creativity. Journalism at the end of the day, and content creation, is all about storytelling, and that’s a creative role that AI does not have the power to do just yet,” Alrashid told the investment summit.
“We will never eliminate that human role which comes in to actually tell that story, do the actual investigative reporting around it, make sure to be able to also tell you what’s news or what’s factual from what’s wrong ... what’s a misinformation from bias, and that’s the bigger role that the editorial player does in the newsroom.”
Speaking on the topic of AI, moderated by Maya Hojeij, senior business anchor at Asharq with Bloomberg, the CEO expressed her pride in SRMG platforms that had absorbed and adopted AI in a way that was “transformative.”
“We are now translating all of our content leveraging AI. We are also now being able to create documentaries leveraging AI. We now have AI-facilitated fact-checking, AI facilities clipping, transcribing. This is what we believe is the future.”
Alrashid was asked what the journalist of the future would look like. “He’s a journalist and an engineer. He’s someone who needs to understand data. And I think this is another topic that is extremely important, understanding the data that you’re working with,” she said.
“This is something that AI has facilitated as well. I must say that over the past 20 years in the region, especially when it comes to media companies, we did not understand the importance of data.”
The CEO highlighted that previously, media would rely on polling, surveys or viewership numbers, but now more detailed information about what viewers wanted was available.
During the fireside session, Alrashid was asked how the international community viewed the Middle Eastern media. Alrashid said that over the past decades it had played a critical role in informing wider audiences about issues that were extremely complex — politically, culturally and economically — and continued to play that role.
“Right now it has a bigger role to play, given the role again of social media, citizen journalists, content creators. But I also do believe that it has been facilitated by the power that AI has. Now immediately, you can ensure that that kind of content that is being created by credible, tier-A journalists, world-class journalists, can travel beyond its borders, can travel instantly to target different geographies, different people, different countries, in different languages, in different formats.”
She said that there was a big opportunity for Arab media not to be limited to simply Arab consumption, but to finally transcend borders and be available in different languages and to cater to their audiences.
The CEO expressed optimism about the future, emphasizing the importance of having a clear vision, a strong strategy, and full team alignment.
Traditional advertising models, once centered on television and print, were rapidly changing, with social media platforms now dominating advertising revenue.
“It’s drastically changing. Ultimately in the past, we used to compete with one another over viewership. But now we’re also competing with the likes of social media platforms; 80 percent of the advertising revenue in the Middle East goes to the social media platforms, but that means that there’s 80 percent interest opportunities.”
She said that the challenge was to create the right content on these platforms that engaged the target audiences and enabled commercial partnerships. “I don’t think this is a secret, but brands do not like to advertise with news channels. Ultimately, it’s always related with either conflict or war, which is a deterrent to advertisers.
“And that’s why we’ve entered new verticals such as sports. And that’s why we also double down on our lifestyle vertical. Ultimately, we have the largest market share when it comes to lifestyle ... And we’ve launched new platforms such as Billboard Arabia that gives us an entry into music.”
Alrashid said this was why the group was in a strong position to counter the decline in advertising revenues across different platforms, and by introducing new products.
“Another very important IP that we’ve created is events attached to the brands that have been operating in the region for 30-plus years. Any IP or any title right now that doesn’t have an event attached to it is missing out on a very big commercial opportunity that allows us to sit in a room, exchange ideas, talk to one another, get to know one another behind the screen.”
The CEO said that disruption was now constant and often self-driving, adding that the future of the industry was often in storytelling and the ability to innovate by creating persuasive content that connected directly with the audience.
“But the next disruption is going to continue to come from AI. And how quickly this tool and this very powerful technology evolves. And whether we are in a position to cope with it, adapt to it, and absorb it fully or not.”
