Mid Continent, the largest nail manufacturer in the US, continued to lay off employees to cope with the cost increase caused by steel tariffs. The company's general operations manager Chris Pratt said that if the tariff issue failed to improve immediately, the company was likely to face a crisis of bankruptcy at the end of September.

Since the June tariffs came into effect, the company's raw material costs have increased and prices have risen, resulting in a significant reduction in orders; 150 employees have been dismissed.

The company asked the Secretary of Commerce for a waiver of tariffs and was still awaiting ruling. Mid Continent mentioned that it was not possible to find a suitable wire supplier in the current situation to be able to supply enough raw materials alone, and the suppliers' qualification process had to take at least 6 months.

At this stage, it was planned to transfer production to DeAcero, the parent company in Mexico, and sell the finished steel nails to the US without paying customs duties.