Jackie Rosenberg, the owner of a Louisiana pipe company, says President Donald Trump’s tariffs are good for America despite higher costs for the raw material he buys.
Sol’s Pipe and Steel, which employs about 100 at its Monroe plant, as The Shreveport Times reports, has supplied steel pipe to help rebuild lower Manhattan in New York City following 9/11 and to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
“America shouldn’t be in a position where it has to rely on foreign steel for its ships, tanks and skyscrapers,” says Jackie Rosenberg. “It’s a strategic metal.”
Rosenberg’s company doesn’t make steel, but buys plates to roll custom pipes in a nationwide business catering to municipal and industrial utility and flood control project customers. Sol’s Pipe and Steel also has a regional business that resells raw steel plates to customers from Acadiana to Alexandria to Shreveport.
Rosenberg says steel prices have risen about 25% since the tariffs were put in place, but the more expensive material hasn’t dampened “a strong surge in our own business,” although he declined to provide specific revenue.
Ultimately, Rosenberg believes Trump’s tariffs will lead to better trade deals for all, and he pointed to concessions already from the European Union and Mexico.
“I don’t know how long it’s going to take, but I’m confident we’re going to see a playing field that is more fair for all industries,” Rosenberg says.
