I just had a European steel mill refuse to quote me their product (long)

I am managing a project sold to a US refinery that requires a specialty grade of carbon steel which is very difficult to produce. In fact there is only one US based steel mill, ArcelorMittal, that we were aware of that we thought would be able to produce this product. Well we go to ArcelorMittal and they review the RFQ and inform us that they must regret the quote as they cannot produce material to meet the specified mechanical properties at this thickness. (ETA ArcelorMittal quoted this plate for us in the bid phase, but is now saying they can’t. This is a whole other discussion).

Ok, well we’re in a bit of a pickle and we realize we’re gonna have to go to Europe and just eat the 25% tariff and hopefully our customer will help us out a bit. There is only one mill in Europe we are aware of that produces this grade of steel that will meet specifications, Dillinger Hütte in Germany. Well we call our Dillinger sales rep and briefly describe the details of our needs, he interrupts in his heavy German accent and asks if this is to be shipped to the US and we say yes, so he cuts us off and says they are not selling any steel which is to be shipped to the US, period.

So we are in a bind. Having to eat the tariff cost would have been a killer for us anyway, and the department of commerce has exemption forms (which we would likely be granted since the product we need is not produced in the US), although the waiting period for the exemption forms could take as long as 90 days. But here we are, with the only mill we know of refusing to sell to us. I mean they could jack the price up and make a pretty profit, and there would be little we could do about it, but they are flat out refusing, in what I assume is simply spite and anger.

We will search for other mills that could possibly help us, but this is an area we are very knowledgeable in and we think this grade of steel simply isn’t available outside of the two mills I mentioned (other than likely some Chinese and Indian mills which would be low quality and are also prohibited for this project). It certainly isn’t available in the United States.

I am a loyal Trump supporter, but wanted to share this with the board as I think it is very relevant and a topic that should be discussed. Please share your thoughts, and I apologize in advance as I am busy at work and might not be available to answer a lot of questions.