Shares of steel and aluminum producers sank in afternoon trade Thursday, ahead of the expected signing by President Donald Trump of a somewhat softer tariff decree than the one announced last month following widespread pressure to change his tone. Shares of U.S. Steel Corp. dropped 3.6%, AK Steel Holding Corp. shed 4.7%, Nucor Corp. slid 3.5%, Steel Dynamics Inc. fell 3.6% and Commercial Metals Co. gave up 4.3%. Among aluminum producers, shares of Alcoa Corp. lost 1.8%, Century Aluminum Co. tumbled 9.1% and Kaiser Aluminum Corp. were down 1.5%. The SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF dropped 2.6%. Trump is expected to sign proclamations on steel and aluminum imports at 3:30 p.m. ET, with Trump saying he has the right to move the tariffs “up or down” depending on the country. On Feb. 16, the sector surged after Trump said he was planning a 25% tariff on steel imports from all countries and a 10% tariff on aluminum imports. The metals & mining ETF has now lost 3.7% since Feb. 16, while the S&P 500 has inched 0.2% lower over the same time.
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