Nuts And Bolts Crisis Hammers US Manufacturing As Tariffs Expand

American manufacturers are getting screwed — literally. As Trump’s latest steel and aluminum tariffs extend to humble fasteners, supply chains have unraveled faster than a cheap sweater. These tiny components, including screws, nails, and bolts, have surged by up to 70% — impacting everything from construction and car parts to appliances and beyond.

• $178B in imports are subject to Trump’s metal tariff, more than triple his 2018 levies, according to an MSU supply chain professor — “It’s a shockingly large number of parts” that are “so much broader than what you would have first thought,” he said.
• While Trump argues these tariffs will boost domestic manufacturing, an industry executive announced, “The production capacity we need doesn’t exist [onshore]” — as another CEO declared, “People are just going to have to pay more.”

Supply chain ripple effects: As an auto parts CEO expects a six-month scramble to find domestic suppliers, construction firms are likely to delay or cancel projects, says an economics chief. Some manufacturers are already ramping up domestic production, but smaller orders can’t match Asian pricing — proving that even the tiniest trinkets can bring the economic machine to a grinding halt.