Gonçalves stood before 1,500 delegates at the Great Designs in Steel Conference on Wednesday May 21 in Novi, Michigan, and chided some automakers for sourcing material – particularly steel – from overseas and for allowing light vehicle import penetration to creep above 50%.
“You created the issue – time to fix it,” he said.
Gonçalves praised domestic steelmakers’ ability to meet demand domestically. Cleveland-Cliffs, in particular, has underutilized capacity, “and we have the ability to grow fast.”
“We have the capacity to supply the steels,” he said. “Engineers, your bosses haven’t been good to you when they move production outside of your country.”
Global supply chains for basic materials like steel might have had a cost advantage at one point, but efforts by the second administration of US President Donald Trump are necessarily chipping away at those in favor of domestic production, Gonçalves said.
“The steel industry and the auto industry, it’s our job to…understand what kind of self-inflicted wounds we are creating for ourselves if we don’t accept this basic truth.”
