Trump's steel tariffs causing unintended consequences for manufacturers

(FOX News) - American steel prices have skyrocketed since President Donald Trump imposed steel tariffs in early March, an unintended consequence for some U.S. companies, which are now paying almost double what they once did for the metal.

Howard Steel, a Charlotte-based company that manufactures gas lines, structural steel and equipment for job sites, used to pay about 38 cents for a pound of raw materials from domestic steel producers.

Now, thanks to the tariffs, the company pays about 68 cents per pound for the same material, Howard Steel owner James Howard told FOX Business' Liz Claman during an interview on Friday.

"As soon as they even talked about a tariff, we were getting price increases, and they were rapidly going up," Howard said. "What you bought one day, three days later, even that price had gone up. There was nothing consistent. We still haven't reached the apex, and I don't know where it's at."

Read more about this story at FOXNews.com.