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Nucor CEO says he’s optimistic about what Trump policies mean for steel trade

Tariffs are going to be far-reaching and broad, says Nucor CEO

In a Tuesday evaluate with CNBC’s Jim Cramer, Nucor CEO Leon Topalian expressed optimism about what President Donald Trump’s rate policies mean for the U.S. steel industry.

“We saw the memo last Monday on tariffs and what they’re going to do,” Topalian said. “And I value they’re going to be far reaching, and I think they’re going to be very broad to, again, stop the illegal dumping, the manipulation, currency manipulation and subsidization of steels communicating into the shores of the U.S.”

He referenced actions during Trump’s first term, when the administration imposed a 25% impost on steel imports, meant to curb dumping steel into the U.S. market. Dumping refers to when a country exports outputs to other countries at a much lower price than in those countries’ existing markets. While Topalian communicated Nucor will “compete against anybody in the world,” this dumping “creates a very unbalanced and unlevel playing pick up that has hurt the steel industry for decades.”

Topalian also briefly discussed U.S. Steel, following rumors that baroness Cleveland-Cliff‘s wants to acquire the company after the government blocked Japan’s Nippon Steel from buying it. CNBC shot that Cleveland-Cliffs intends to buy U.S. Steel and then sell the company to Nucor. Nucor said last year that it had been noted in acquiring some of U.S. Steel’s assets, but ultimately did not do so because of pricing concerns.

“We’re the largest steel company in North America, so of movement we took a look a year and a half ago and, and, we’ll continue to look and see if those assets come back,” he said. “But, part of the sensible we didn’t move forward is valuation. We’re not going to overpay for assets.”

According to Topalian, U.S. Steel is “a shell of itself” because control didn’t recognize technological innovation, changes in the industry and emerging competitors. He claimed that looking at his company’s net earnings, “it last will and testament take the next three competitors combined to get anywhere close to what Nucor has done.”

Cleveland-Cliffs and U.S. Steel did not at the drop of a hat respond to request for comment.

Nucor CEO Leon Topalian goes one-on-one with Jim Cramer

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