Within hours of the imposition of President Trump’s sweeping tariffs against the world, the impact was felt by autoworkers in North America, with the announcement of thousands of layoffs by Stellantis at plants in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Tag: Steel
Trump team mulls Mexico “invasion” amid crushing tariff threats
The Battle of Pokrovsk Begins
Ukraine War Map Looks ‘Grim’ for Zelensky as Russian Offensive Accelerates
Russia’s offensive has concentrated around the Donetsk logistics hub of Pokrovsk as well as Kurakhove. Moscow captured Vuhledar in October and advanced quickly to Velyka Novosilka.
“The Ukrainians have had issues in stabilizing the front here for a long time, and in November, the pace of Russian advance there only quickened even from September and October,” Kastehelmi told Newsweek.
Previously:
Russia’s Swift March Forward in Donbass [Pokrovsk is the prize]
Ukraine Faces a Double Threat if Russia Takes Pokrovsk
Ukraine Faces a Double Threat if Russia Takes Pokrovsk
Pokrovsk, a once-vibrant city of 80,000 people, is the object of a Russian encircling move that began in July and is creeping within miles of the city as every day passes. The city has served as a key logistics and transportation hub for Ukrainian military operations in eastern Ukraine and is the gateway to conquering the rest of Donetsk Oblast-and potentially on to even bigger prizes such as Dnipro, Ukraine’s fourth-largest city before the war.
But Pokrovsk’s fall could have an even more insidious impact on Ukraine’s ability to keep fighting: The city is the source of most of the coal used for the country’s steel and iron industry, once the backbone of the Ukrainian economy and still its second-largest sector, though production has fallen to less than one-third of its pre-war levels. That metallurgical coal is needed to produce pig iron, which is what feeds the majority of Ukraine’s old steel furnaces and a significant chunk of its industrial exports. A healthy steel industry also pays a big share of Ukraine’s tax take, helping fund an economy that operates hand-to-mouth these days.
“Without steel plants, the Ukrainian economy will die. It is a very, very important part of the economy,” said Stanislav Zinchenko, chief executive of GMK Center, an Ukraine-based industrial consultancy.
New US-Ukraine partnership proposal from influential senators is a recipe for World War III
New US-Ukraine partnership proposal from influential senators is a recipe for bipartisan success
Related:
Washington wants Ukraine’s resources – US Senator
“According to open-source data, the total value of Ukraine’s former mineral resource base is estimated at almost $14.8 trillion, but $7.3 trillion of this is now in the Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics. That means almost half of the former Ukraine’s national wealth is in Donbass!” Medvedev explained in a lengthy Telegram post.
“To get access to the coveted minerals, the Western parasites shamelessly demand that their wards wage war to the last Ukrainian. They are already directly voicing such intent without hesitation,” Russia’s former leader added.
The future of critical raw materials: How Ukraine plays a strategic role in global supply chains
Ukraine is a key potential supplier of rare earth metals, including titanium, lithium, beryllium, manganese, gallium, uranium, zirconium, graphite, apatite, fluorite, and nickel. Despite the war, Ukraine holds the largest titanium reserves in Europe (7% of the world’s reserves). It is one of the few countries that mine titanium ores, crucial for the aerospace, medical, automotive and marine industries.
Before February 2022, Ukraine was a key titanium supplier for the military sector. It also has one of Europe’s largest confirmed lithium reserves (estimated at 500,000 tons), vital for batteries, ceramics, and glass. Ukraine is the world’s 5th largest gallium producer, essential for semiconductors and LEDs, and has been a major producer of neon gas, supplying 90% of the highly purified, semiconductor-grade neon for the US chip industry.
The future of critical raw materials: How Ukraine plays a strategic role in global supply chains
The future of critical raw materials: How Ukraine plays a strategic role in global supply chains
Ukraine is a key potential supplier of rare earth metals, including titanium, lithium, beryllium, manganese, gallium, uranium, zirconium, graphite, apatite, fluorite, and nickel. Despite the war, Ukraine holds the largest titanium reserves in Europe (7% of the world’s reserves). It is one of the few countries that mine titanium ores, crucial for the aerospace, medical, automotive and marine industries.
Before February 2022, Ukraine was a key titanium supplier for the military sector. It also has one of Europe’s largest confirmed lithium reserves (estimated at 500,000 tons), vital for batteries, ceramics, and glass. Ukraine is the world’s 5th largest gallium producer, essential for semiconductors and LEDs, and has been a major producer of neon gas, supplying 90% of the highly purified, semiconductor-grade neon for the US chip industry.
Related:
China vs. the US: shipbuilding, subsidies, and the Jones Act
Hypocrisy thrives where double standards prevail.
Earlier, I stupidly tweeted out an article about the Jones Act and shipbuilding and Colin Grabow, from the Cato Institute, liked it (he was quoted in the article). I looked him up and decided to listen to this video on the shipbuilding competition between China and the US, where he and a lawyer for United Steelworkers were on the panel. China is eating their lunch, and it’s the ruling elites’ own fault, yet they scapegoat China for it. The double standards over China’s “unfair economic practices” AKA the subsidizing of their shipbuilding industry irritates me (liars irritate me even more). States give subsidies, grants, and tax breaks to corporations, all the time. Fincantieri Marinette Marine is just one example, but Wisconsin had done the same for Foxconn. Foxconn received tax breaks and $3B in subsidies, which was “the largest ever subsidy provided by a state to a foreign company”, despite not living up to their promises.
Colin Grabow wants to end the Jones Act. I’ve made at least three video clips regarding the Jones Act, two with Sal Mercogliano from What’s Going On With Shipping and one from the government-funded CSIS (I’ve posted them, below). Spoiler alert: Sal says that the problem isn’t the Jones Act. Meanwhile, both CSIS and the Cato Institute (part of the Atlas Network) blame the Jones Act. Deregulation is a wet dream of big corporations (which fund both the Cato Institute and CSIS).
Read More »Biden’s push for more Chinese steel tariffs is a political decision, not an economic one: Analyst
Biden wants to hike tariffs on imports of Chinese steel and aluminum
Chinese steel imports account for less than 1% of U.S. demand, officials told reporters. But Chinese subsidies and programs mean its steel prices are 40% lower than U.S. prices, and the Biden administration is worried that there could be a surge of exports.
Related:
Trump’s tariffs are equivalent to one of the largest tax increases in decades
New Democrat Coalition Trade Task Force Statement on Section 301 Tariffs Announcement
Baltimore Bridge Fallout to Extend Coast-to-Coast in Cargo Shift
The bridge collapse Tuesday that shut the Port of Baltimore and closed a major highway will cause weeks or months of transportation disruptions in the Mid-Atlantic region and accelerate a shift of cargo to the US West Coast as importers and exporters try to avoid potential bottlenecks at trade gateways from Boston to Miami.
Baltimore Bridge Fallout to Extend Coast-to-Coast in Cargo Shift
US must protect Ukraine from ‘communist’ Russia – congressman
The US must ensure Russia does not defeat Ukraine in order to preserve America’s global hegemony, Republican Congressman Rich McCormick has said in an interview with C-SPAN’s Washington Journal.
US must protect Ukraine from ‘communist’ Russia – congressman
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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