In a carpeted, air-conditioned room at the Kentucky International Convention Center in downtown Louisville, giant robot arms hiss as they plasma cut steel plates and whirr away, rotating heavy beams.
This is the American Institute of Steel Construction’s annual conference. It’s billed as the premiere industry event for people who make massive bridges and buildings out of steel.
Surrounded by the technology and sales leads, Guillermo González’s mind was miles away. He was thinking of the Rose Garden in the White House, where President Donald Trump’s was set to announce new tariffs later in the day.
González’s company, Serviacero, manufactures things like steel racks and grates in Mexican factories and ships them all over the world, including the U.S. He says so far under tariffs, his U.S. customers are just paying 25% more for the same stuff.
“We were thinking that we wouldn’t be able to sell to the US anymore,” González said. “The reality is that all of our customers asked for the material, the same volumes and they are paying for the material.”
González says he’s skeptical that those buyers will switch to American suppliers anytime soon. But could Trump’s announcement raise tariffs even higher, making his prices intolerable?
“We have a global economy and right now, trying to think about going local again sounds almost impossible,” he said. “But you can try!”
A few booths down, Shaun Eller of Ohio Gratings says they buy American steel and manufacture products in Canton, Ohio.
Eller says his domestic suppliers raised their prices a little less than 25% to take advantage of the new tax on foreign competition. He says so far customers are willing to pay a little more too — but he knows there’s a limit.
“There does come a point where it becomes [a] resistance level and prices get to where ‘I’m not going to invest, I’m not going to build,’” Eller said.
His biggest question ahead of the announcement revolved around how long tariffs would last. When would the U.S. government feel their bargaining chip had paid off?
“Is it going to be long-term, is it not? I mean, we’ll find out. My crystal ball is a little foggy,” Eller joked.
A little after 4 p.m. news came from the White House Rose Garden and spread across the conference hall. President Trump introduced even more tariffs. Starting Thursday, the United States is imposing a baseline 10% tax for all imports with dozens of specific countries targeted for even more.
“The other countries, they all understand. We’re going to have to go through a little tough love maybe, but they all understand,” President Trump said, detailing various international trade deficits “They’re ripping us off and they understood it.”
On the trade show floor, one businessman from India started packing up his booth. Thanks to the new tariffs, his products were suddenly 26% more expensive. He's visibly frustrated and said he isn’t ready to talk.
He’s also one of Guillermo González’s competitors.
But González said this isn’t how he wants to gain a competitive edge — he wants free trade.
“We don’t feel happy to hear that,” he said. “We feel sorry for them.”
Meanwhile, he feels like he dodged a bullet. He was holding his breath all day for tariffs to be increased on Mexico and Canada. But they weren’t included in the announcement.
“Obviously we feel relieved,” González said. “But in the end, the final consumer, the US consumer is paying for these tariffs.”
Some of the biggest sponsors of the conference are publicly traded steel producers like Nucor, ArcelorMittal, and Steel Dynamics. As of Thursday afternoon, all of their stock prices were down more than five percent.
