Tariffs would aid steelworkers at expense of far more others [View all]

[riversedge]

Source: AP

March 2, 2018

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s move to impose tariffs on imported steel is meant to protect an industry that employs about 140,000 Americans. Yet by raising the price of steel, those same tariffs stand to hurt a far larger group of U.S. workers: the 6.5 million who work in industries that buy steel — from automakers to aircraft manufacturers to suppliers of building materials.

Trump has vowed to impose 25 percent tariffs next week on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum, which he says pose a threat to America’s national security. By building barriers to imported metal, the tariffs would allow U.S. steel companies to expand production and charge higher prices than they could without broader competition. Those higher prices, in turn, would squeeze the companies that use the materials and potentially the consumers who buy the finished goods.

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“Higher prices for consumers could eventually lead to slower U.S. economic growth and result in reduced (overall) factory employment,” Moody’s Investors Service cautioned in a report.

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In 2002, President George W. Bush imposed tariffs on steel imports to help a struggling steel industry. A study sponsored by steel-consuming companies found that those tariffs cost 200,000 American jobs by driving up the costs for companies that buy steel and forcing them to lay off employees..............................

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https://www.apnews.com/b83903ad76b24cab95b12dd6dcc6ea5c





March 2, 2018 / 10:40 AM / Updated 4 hours ago



Exclusive: EU may target $3.5 billion of U.S. imports for trade retaliation - sources



Philip Blenkinsop

2 Min Read

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is considering applying 25 percent tariffs on around $3.5 billion of imports from the United States if President Donald Trump carries out his plan to apply global duties to steel and aluminum, EU sources say.
FILE PHOTO: Shipping containers sit at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, U.S. on February 6, 2015. REUTERS/Bob Riha, Jr./File Photo

The European Commission has said it would respond“firmly” to proposed U.S. import duties of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum.

It has spelt out it would join others in a challenge at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and consider safeguard measures, last deployed in 2002, to guard against steel and aluminum being diverted to Europe from elsewhere if U.S. tariffs come in. ........................



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Jonathan Swan
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12h12 hours ago

Jonathan Swan Retweeted Jonathan Swan

Some officials have tried for 13 months to explain to Trump that trade deficits shouldn’t be viewed like losses on a balance sheet. Those conversations have been utterly futile.

Jonathan Swan added, Jonathan Swan
Verified account @jonathanvswan


Trump effectively promised a trade war on the campaign — he reserved some of his most violent language for trade and China — and now he’s delivering on that promise. Republicans can express their horror but not their surprise.

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