First Shot of Trade War Fired

Bloomberg: AK Leads U.S. Steelmaker Rally as More Metal Imports Punished

AK Steel Holding Corp. led a U.S. steelmaker rally after the Department of Commerce imposed tariffs of as much as 266 percent on imports of cold-rolled steel after determining they were priced unfairly.

AK Steel surged 7.2 percent to a seven-month high at 9.37 a.m. in New York while Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel Corp. climbed 6.6 percent. They’re among U.S. producers in line for relief from a surge of imports that helped push down domestic prices to six-year lows.

The U.S. government imposed tariffs of 266 percent on imports from China, with goods from Brazil, India, South Korea, Russia, Japan and the U.K. also subject to duties, the Commerce Department said in a preliminary decision Tuesday.

Steel stocks are up as much as 20% today.