Linda Hasenfratz, CEO of Linamar, says “opportunistic” US companies are taking advantage of 25 per cent tariffs on metals introduced by President Donald Trump to hike the prices they charge.
A Reuters report notes that because the tariffs raise the metals prices charged by foreign competitors, US companies can take advantage of that to raise their own prices. In June the U.S. Commerce Department said it was investigating recent steel price hikes to determine whether some market participants were “illegitimately profiteering” from the tariffs.
“People are being opportunistic,” Hasenfratz told analysts after Linamar, which makes auto parts and aerial work platforms, among other products, reported quarterly earnings. “American companies, they know that their competition has 25 per cent higher” prices, she said. “They’re the only game in town, they’re jacking the prices up.”
Hasenfratz said Linamar was experiencing higher metal costs in its Skyjack division, which makes products like booms, but said they were not a material amount and the company was working with customers to mitigate the increases.
Source: Reuters
