Don Santa, president and chief executive officer of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, calls ‘very troubling’ and ‘inconsistent’ a Trump administration decision to impose steel tariffs on long-standing, strategic allies:
“The administration’s decision to immediately impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imported from our long-standing allies of Canada, Mexico and the European Union is very troubling to the US pipeline industry and inconsistent with the administration’s long-standing goal to capitalize on our nation’s energy abundance to help bring low-cost energy to American consumers.
“National security depends on pipelines to deliver the energy America needs to heat homes and fuel businesses, power plants and manufacturing. Because of insufficient pipeline capacity, certain parts of our country still rely on imported fuels to meet basic energy needs. In fact, this winter New England resorted to Russian LNG to meet demand during a cold snap, despite having some of the world’s most affordable natural gas – abundant domestic supplies from the Marcellus Basin – only a few hundred miles away.
“The large-diameter, thick-walled steel used to construct natural gas transmission pipelines is a niche product with unique technical specifications. Federal safety requirements and industry standards require steel specifications beyond those commonly used in markets such as automobiles or building materials. Pipelines require specialty steel products not always available in sufficient quantities and specifications from domestic manufacturers. For certain steel products used in pipelines, no domestic product is available today."
