Skyrocketing steel costs - or scare mongering?

Various news reports say that steel tariffs will cause the cost of bridges to skyrocket. According to the Short Span Steel Bridge Alliance, If a steel bridge costs $112,000, the cost of steel will be about $42,000. Now according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, about 25 percent of all steel used in the U.S. is imported. However, let us just say that for bridges, about 50 percent of the steel is imported. Therefore, the imported steel for bridges costing $112,000 is between $10,000 and $21,000. Now if there is a 25 percent tariff on this steel, that means the cost of the bridge will go up by between $2,500 and $5,000 or between 2.3 percent and 4.5 percent. Is that 2.3 percent to 4.5 percent skyrocketing or is it just scare mongering as with so many other similar examples and an excuse to raise prices by say 10 percent?

Roland G. Ley

Arlington Heights