Steel company says it will give a big bonus to workers if Trump tariffs pass

Zekelman Industries announced that they would give a cash bonus to their employees if President Trump's announced tariffs were to pass and be implemented.

A Trump tariff bonus

Trump announced that he would advocating tariffs on steel and aluminum in order to protect those industries from unfair market acts from competitors to the U.S., especially China.

In the wake of the announcement, Zekelman Industries said their 2,300 employees would receive a $1,000 bonus if the tariffs passed. The company is a steel pipe and tube manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois.

"We think there are great days ahead, and we wanted to share it with all of our people," said Mickey McNamara, the executive vice president of Zekelman, on CNBC.

"We think [the tariffs are] going to have a tremendous impact for us and for the entire domestic steel industry," he explained.

Very encouraging feedback

Trump's commerce secretary Wilbur Ross used the bonus announcement to praise the tariffs proposed by Trump.

"We've gotten very encouraging feedback from customers of the steel industry," he told Lou Dobbs on Fox News Business. "The pipe and tube people tell me they expect to add 7,000 jobs if we put the [tariffs] through."

Here's video of Ross with Lou Dobbs:

.@SecretaryRoss: "Zekelman Industries, one of the larger pipe and tube people, [has] announced they are gonna pay $1,000 bonus to every one of their 2,300 employees simply because of the tariffs." https://t.co/wnhSqAyCSv pic.twitter.com/htcWxRNs8Y

— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) March 3, 2018

"Zekelman Industries, one of the larger pipe and tube people, announced they are gonna pay $1,000 bonus to every one of their 2,300 employees simply because of the tariffs," he added.

Dissenting voices against the tariffs included economist Stephen Moore, formerly the senior economic advisor of the Trump campaign, who said that the policy would hurt the U.S. economy, but was well intentioned.