"Even as we speak, the U.S. steel industry is still under assault from dumping, subsidies, state ownership, transshipments, circumvention, counterfeiting and cheating. It is time for us to seriously address these issues," said SMA president Philip Bell. 

Speaking during a press conference at an SMA board meeting, Bell said Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on solar panels and washing machines suggests that the steel industry might, too, see a positive outcome. 

But he declined to forecast when a decision will come – the president, under law, has to act by mid-April – or what his decision might entail. 

"Everyone who has tried to guess what’s going to happen with (the Section 232 case) has been wrong, particularly when it comes to timing."
  
Bell said the association will be listening intently to the president’s State of the Union speech next week for clues.