Rowley, Massachusetts business owner ‘excited’ about Trump administration’s new steel tariffs

By CNN

Published March 13, 2025 11:47 AM

WCVB, POOL, CNN

By David Bienick

ROWLEY, Massachusetts (WCVB) — For weeks, many Massachusetts businesses have expressed worry about President Donald Trump’s tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports, which went into effect on Wednesday.

However, one business owner on the North Shore said he is excited about them.

Unlike the big steel mills that smelt iron and carbon into steel, mostly found in the American Midwest and South, at Capone Iron Corporation in Rowley, workers grind, cut and weld huge raw steel beams before shipping them out to be used in buildings and bridges all across New England.

Owner Stephen Capone employs about 80 people at the steel fabricating plant, which has another location in Berlin, New Hampshire.

He said those plants could triple their production if not for competition from Canada.

“The Canadians, especially from Quebec, are taking 95% of our public jobs,” Capone said. “They’re taking 80% of our private market. They have created a monopoly.”

So when Trump announced 25% tariffs on imported Canadian steel, Capone said he was excited.

However, he said current rules allow some of his Canadian competitors to avoid the tariffs.

“I think it’s paragraph 16 has the derivatives,” Capone said. “That allows foreign competition to buy the steel domestically, that’s domestically produced here, ship it north, ship it south, fabricate and bring it back. We can’t compete with that.”

Capone wants Trump to tax all steel imports, regardless of where it was originally made.

He also wants state and local governments to buy more local steel for building projects, even if it costs more.

Additionally, he said before he expands or hires more people, he will be watching to see if the tariffs cause business to increase at the plant.

Capone also said the tariffs could have a negative effect.

For example, he said, without Canadian competition, U.S. steel mills might jack up the prices they charge him.

Furthermore, he said plants like his also use a lot of electricity, some of which comes from Canada.

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