When will the US capacity utilization rate for iron and steel products reach or exceed 82.5%?
Closing Jul 01, 2026 07:01AM UTC
The Trump administration reintroduced tariffs on steel and aluminum with the stated aim of protecting domestic production from unfair trade practices (White House, Spectrum News).The US capacity utilization rate is the percentage of productive capacity being used in the economy (Investopedia - Capacity Utilization Rate). The question will be suspended on 30 June 2026 if still open and the outcome determined using data as first reported by the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) database, expected in July 2026 (FRED, hover your cursor over the chart for data). The data for a month as first reported will count, and subsequent revisions to past months are immaterial. As of the launch of this question, the capacity utilization rate was last above 82.5% in October 2021, when it was 83.3953%.
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| Possible Answer | Crowd Forecast | Change in last 24 hours | Change in last week | Change in last month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before November 2025 | 0.60% | 0% | 0% | -0.40% |
| Between November 2025 and February 2026 | 3.10% | -0.10% | -0.90% | -3.40% |
| Between March 2026 and June 2026 | 12.60% | -2.00% | -1.20% | -5.50% |
| Not before July 2026 | 83.70% | +2.10% | +2.10% | +9.30% |