As More Tariffs Loom, Austin Companies Absorb Metal Price Hikes

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Producers say prices began rising immediately after the first round of tariffs was announce.

By Jimmy MaasJune 20, 2018 9:30 am, , ,

From KUT:

President Donald Trump is threatening tariffs again, this time on more than $200 billion in goods from China. The administration earlier this year began taxing imports of a variety of products, including washing machines, lumber, steel and aluminum. While many of those tariffs won’t be felt for some time, there are some Austin businesses already making adjustments.

Westbrook Metals has been dealing with price jumps ever since Trump made public his intention to put a tariff on metals a few months ago.

“When the tariffs were announced, we had an immediate uptick in price,” says Jak Fuller, Austin branch manager for Westbrook Metals. “Costs in general went up. So, we transferred those on to our customers immediately, since we base our prices off of market pricing.”

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