Cleveland-Cliffs, Steel Dynamics, US Steel, And Other Metal Stocks Surge As Trump's Tariffs Take Effect: Retail's Bullish

Shares of steel and aluminum companies like Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (CLF), Steel Dynamics Inc. (STLD), United States Steel Corp. (X), and others surged on Wednesday as U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs took effect.

The U.S. government’s 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports went into effect on Wednesday, extending the impact to all downstream products made using these metals, from nuts and bolts to soda cans.

This sent the stocks of Cleveland-Cliffs, Steel Dynamics, U.S. Steel, Nucor Corp. (NUE), and other metal companies rising by as much as 8% in Wednesday’s regular trade.

Trump had previously threatened to impose 50% tariffs on these imports from Canada after Ontario Premier Doug Ford decided to impose a 25% tax on electricity exports to the U.S. However, Ford backed down, pushing Trump to back off as well.

However, 25% tariffs are still applicable on all steel and aluminum imports into the country.

With Canada being the largest foreign supplier of these metals to the U.S., the former is the most impacted. It has retaliated with 25% tariffs on these metals, as well as computers, sports equipment, and other goods totaling $20 billion.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said copper imports would also attract tariffs eventually.

“The president wants steel and aluminum in America. And let me be clear — nothing's going to stop that until we've got a big, strong domestic steel and aluminum capability. And by the way, he's going to add copper to that mix, too,” he said in an interview on Fox Business.

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits around Cleveland-Cliffs soared, entering the ‘extremely bullish’ (85/100) territory from ‘bullish’ (73/100) a day ago.

Message volumes were at ‘extremely high’ levels at the time of writing.

One user expressed that as long as tariffs are in place, the CLF stock will surge to double digits.

Cleveland-Cliffs’ stock has gained over 4% year-to-date, but it has fallen more than 52% over the past year.

Retail sentiment around the Steel Dynamics stock was bearish, while investors were cautious about U.S. Steel.

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Also See: Intel Stock Pops Aftermarket On New CEO Appointment: Retail Turns Bullish