US recycler George Adams: ‘I love tariffs’

It is a voice that certainly differs from the common opinion in an industry advocating free trade at all times. But SA Recycling’s George Adams isn’t the type of recycler and entrepreneur that follows the crowd.

At the BIR world recycling convention in Bangkok, he dropped a bombshell by saying he is a big fan of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel imports.

‘I love tariffs,’ Adams told conference.  ‘Tariffs are saving our steel industry in the US. If you can take our scrap and you can ship it all the way to China or to India or some other place and they can make steel and bring it all the way back for cheaper than we can make it here, something’s wrong.’

Adams was adamant his country had to have a vibrant, strong industry to make its own steel. If steel was largely manufactured overseas, he argued, the domestic industry would be ‘hollowed out’ and that would be ‘a tremendous risk’ for the US economy.

More money

‘From a very selfish point of view, being a recycler in the US, I want steel mills. I want a lot of steel mills. I’d rather see a steel mill on every corner and have a big negative scrap. So that they want to pay me more money for my scrap.’

The US has been witnessing major ramp-up of smelting and steelmaking capacity across the country. Even in Adam’s home state California a mega plant is being built instead of relying on shipping material across the Pacific from China. ‘It’s shocking but it makes sense,’ said Adams. ‘In my wildest imagination I would have never thought it possible.’

State-of-the-art

According to the biggest ferrous recycler in the US, steel mills have had ‘tremendous investment’. ‘They’re state-of-the-art, and they’re running the way they’re supposed to run. They can be competitive against anybody in the world as long as it’s fair.’

Adams acknowledged that ‘our steel is going to be more expensive and ultimately we’ll probably have to protect our car industry too. As long as things are being run efficiently and properly, then we need to make them in our country.’