“We have the ability to ramp up and down very quickly, within minutes,” CEO Leon Topalian, who once worked at the Huger mill, told CNBC.
The U.S. consumes about 100 million tons of steel each year. About quarter of that is imported. Domestic production is running at about 70 percent, and tariffs could both boost capacity while cutting imports to around 10 percent, Topalian said.
“Many of our trading partners have taken advantage of our open market for far too long and have intentionally circumvented our trade laws or allowed other bad actors to transship illegally dumped and subsidized steel,” Topalian said in a written statement included on the White House’s website.
“The president’s actions will help level the playing field for American steel producers,” the note also said.
Vance should get a warm reception from local Republicans during the visit based on their continued support for Trump, though not as warm a welcome from the state as a whole. Fresh polling from Winthrop University released April 28 found South Carolinians are evenly split on Trump’s job performance in his second term.
According to the survey of more than 1,500 adults in the state, 44 percent approved of the way Trump is handling the job, while 45 percent disapproved.
When asked whether they believe the country is headed in the right direction or is on the wrong track, 47 percent of South Carolinians said it’s on the wrong track. But views varied sharply by party: 69 percent of S.C. Republicans said the nation is moving in the right direction, while 81 percent of Democrats said it’s on the wrong track.
John McGrath, the newly elected chair of the Berkeley County Republican Party, applauded the impending Vance visit and said it will highlight “the vital role Berkeley County plays in American manufacturing.”
“As the Berkeley GOP Chair, I’m proud to welcome him and appreciate his focus on the hardworking people who power our local economy,” McGrath told The Post and Courier in a statement.