Last month, Icahn sold stock in steel-use firm

SAN FRANCISCO — Billionaire investor Carl Icahn sold nearly 1 million shares of stock in a company tied to the steel industry ahead of President Donald Trump’s decision to impose costly tariffs on steel and aluminum imported into the U.S.

Icahn has ties to Trump. He was an unpaid adviser to the president before resigning last August.

A recent regulatory filing disclosed that Icahn sold $31.3 million worth of stock in crane manufacturer Manitowoc Co. last month. Since Trump’s announcement Thursday, Manitowoc’s stock has plummeted to about $26. Icahn — who has had majority interest in several companies including Motorola, Xerox, Family Dollar, and Pep Boys — had sold his shares for about $32 to $34 each, according to the filing.

Icahn had not actively traded any Manitowoc stock since January 2015, according to regulatory filings.

The tariffs are Trump’s response to a determination by the Commerce Department that increasing import volumes posed a risk to U.S. national security.

Though Icahn no longer advises Trump in a formal role, the two reportedly still talk. Icahn resigned from his position as a “special adviser” to Trump on regulatory reform in August, saying that he didn’t want to step on the toes of Neomi Rao, the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, and because he wanted to avoid conflicts of interest over regulations that would impact an oil refinery company he owns, CVR Energy.

“Indeed, out of an abundance of caution, the only issues I ever discussed with you were broad matters of policy affecting the refining industry,” he said in his resignation letter to Trump. “I never sought any special benefit for any company with which I have been involved, and have only expressed views that I believed would benefit the refining industry as a whole.”

Icahn’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.

Information for this article was contributed by Marwa Eltagouri of The Washington Post; and by staff members of The Associated Press.