Pittsburgh manufacturer credits tariff exemption with saving 150 jobs
Woodings Munroe President Robert Woodings discusses how the government granted his company an exclusion from President Trump’s steel tariff.
After President Trump’s tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum imports went into effect in March, more than 20,000 American businesses scrambled to apply for exemptions from the penalties.
That includes Woodings Industrial Corp., which became one of 760 companies to have their application approved by the Department of Commerce. So far, fewer than 2,000 applications have been processed.
CEO Robert Woodings credits the exemption with saving the Pittsburgh-based company, which manufactures equipment U.S. steelmakers need to make blast furnaces, from having to shutter part of its business.
“This segment of the operation has about 150 employees,” Woodings said during an interview with FOX Business’ Liz Claman on Friday. “And it’s a long-term business. It’s a very dedicated workforce. It would’ve been very, very difficult for us.”
Woodings said the business has to import hollow steel rods to drill a hole in the blast furnace steelmakers use to make iron. Although the business only imports a small amount – less than 3,000 tons per year – it has very specific mechanical and material requirements.
The last U.S. manufacturer of the product went out of business in 1987, he said. Although they struck up a deal with a Canadian manufacturer, it closed in 2000.
Some of Woodings’ biggest clients include U.S. Steel and AK Steel.
“[The waiver] gave me great peace, because this is a product that we use for a bigger operation,” he said. “It’s like a razor blade that we use in equipment we build for the steel industry, so our position is a bit unique. We needed a waiver for a product that would support the U.S. domestic steel industry.”
Trump first announced the 10% aluminum and 25% steel tariffs in February, part of a campaign promise to curtail unfair trade practices and protect American jobs.