When Donald Trump announced new duties on imported steel at beginning of March, Tim Timken was re as well. The Chairman of Board of Directors of TimkenSteel, a listed company from Ohio, had been using fees for months to limit imports from countries such as China and regions such as Europe. At announcement he was visibly satisfied. The "bleeding" was stopped, Timken said after announcement of trumps in television interviews.
At sister company Timken Company, however, enthusiasm about customs duties remained within limits. The company had split up in 2014 from joint Undertaking, which was chaired by Tim Timken until n. Unlike TimkenSteel, Timken company does not manufacture steel, but also recycles it, for example to ball bearings and gears. According to customs announcement, group said it was scarce: as a global company, we believe in fair, open trade. Steel tariffs are not seen as a positive development for one's own business and are concerned about international competitiveness of its customers. The group did not respond to a request from time online.
The US president discouraged decision to provide high-level imports not only to international trading partners. In his homeland, too, he has provoked mixed feelings – unlike tax reform, which was almost unanimously welcomed by economy. While America's steel industry is hoping for long-awaited recovery from White House aid, steel-processing sector is afraid of rising costs and a looming bottleneck.
The ascent came with car industryTimken has become a vivid example of division of attitudes. Company founder Henry Timken had emigrated from Germany to USA as a child with his family in 1839 and soon secured several patents for production of ball bearings and bending springs. At first he built se for horse-drawn carriages, later he recognized chance to supply aspiring car industry. Henry Timken died in 1909, but his successors went into steel production in 1915 to secure stock during bottlenecks in World War I. In early 1950s, company had become so powerful that Supreme Court accused Timken of violating cartel law and deliberately limiting trade.
Four years ago, pressure of investors on leadership had risen to separate two areas. But close links remain to this day: Many shareholders still hold shares in both companies, family holds around ten percent of two companies and headquarters are located a few minutes from each or in small town of Canton.
But this is where commonalities end. While Timken generates sales of 2.7 billion dollars, employs 14,000 people worldwide and has continued to grow in recent years thanks to numerous acquisitions, steel company is fighting same name against crisis in US steel industry. The factories ran half capacity in past years, company slipped into loss zone and had to dismiss twelve percent of workforce. Employees who had earned an average of 72,000 dollars a year lost ir place from one day to or, in end of which 3,000 were left with 2,500. A plant for hardening steel just built for 50 million dollars was shut down.
Timken Jr., who leads company in fifth generation and whose wife sits on board of Republican Party in Ohio, turned to Washington in despair and asked for help. The steel industry, he argued, could better bridge stages of economic downturn when global trade is taking place under fair conditions. The overproduction from countries like China has flooded market and ousted American companies with cheap imports. Under Donald Trump finally found Timken hearing.
Date Of Update: 30 March 2018, 12:03
