Trump’s 50% steel and aluminum tariffs raise costs for F-35 and Abrams production, impacting U.S. defense. Explore the effects on supply chains and budgets.
I don’t think dump trucks filled with raw ore dump out materials into Lockeed Martin’s parking lot and then they have some magical device that converts it into an F-35. I think it’s more likely they purchase very specialized bits of metal that is produced at or above a specific grade. Producing materials to very specific requirements isn’t cheap, and requires specialized tooling and training to do.
Yes you can refit mills and train people in the US to produce those bits of metal but that takes time and money to do. There’s likely even security clearances people have to complete to see the specs on some of the materials.
And the significant investment needed to retool and retrain isn’t happening because the investment crowd is in the TACO mindset.
I don’t think dump trucks filled with raw ore dump out materials into Lockeed Martin’s parking lot and then they have some magical device that converts it into an F-35. I think it’s more likely they purchase very specialized bits of metal that is produced at or above a specific grade. Producing materials to very specific requirements isn’t cheap, and requires specialized tooling and training to do.
Yes you can refit mills and train people in the US to produce those bits of metal but that takes time and money to do. There’s likely even security clearances people have to complete to see the specs on some of the materials.
And the significant investment needed to retool and retrain isn’t happening because the investment crowd is in the TACO mindset.