Trump Trade War - Missouri nail manufacturer struggles under steel tariff

STL Public Radio reported that Trump-administration tariffs on imported steel and aluminum imposed last June were intended to boost US production, create jobs and investment in American manufacturing. The impact has been just the opposite at the Mid Continent Steel and Wire company in southeast Missouri. Mr Chris Pratt, Mid Continent’s general operations manager said that “We are suffering. Our company is losing money every month, our employment is down 200 employees since June, and our sales are off 60 percent.”

Mid Continent was thrust into the national spotlight last summer when then-Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, called the nail and fastener factory in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, one of the first victims of the Trump tariffs.

Soon after the tariffs were announced, Mid Continent laid off 80 non-contract employees, citing the rising cost of importing steel as a reason. Pratt said an additional 120 employees have quit the company since June due to fears the factory would be forced to close. Before the tariffs, Mid Continent had 500 employees.

Mid Continent is one of the few remaining American manufacturers of nails; it makes 50 percent of the nails produced in the US, under the Magnum brand name. Yet it’s not American-owned: a Mexican company acquired Mid Continent in 2012.

According to Mr Pratt, the new parent company invested millions in the Missouri facility, doubling its size, creating new jobs and a plan for continued growth. He said those facts alone made Mid Continent an excellent candidate for exclusion from the 25 percent tariff on imported steel.

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