In historical conflicts, it’s been said that he with the most steel wins.
I read the other day that the Chinese produce something like ten times the amount of steel the US does. (IIRC, the numbers were something like 810 million tons vs 80 million). China produces half the steel in the world.
The peaceful way to look at this, through the lens of microeconomics, is that they built up this huge capacity because of their manufacturing and because of their incredible urban expansion. Then, you look at the plants themselves, and although some may be inefficient, it may be better to manufacture and dump steel than to leave them depreciating and idle.
The non-peaceful way to look at it is “Guns and Steel.”
The tariffs will motivate some steel capacity expansion in the US, but it isn’t going to close the production gap all that significantly. Maybe it is aimed at halting the atrophy of our steel and aluminum making industries... as a defense measure more than a trade measure.
All speculative on my part. I don’t sit at the decision table.
China produces more steel because they have more manufacturing though. We need to grow our manufacturing base. That will provide a market for steel and aluminum. Monkeying with the tariffs is a double-edged sword. It helps some industries, like steel in the short run, but it hurts others. And those that it hurts then cut their use of steel and aluminum, which comes back on the steel and aluminum industry. Eventually it backfires. Better to encourage the growth in the manufacturing of the final product, which will increase the demand for steel and aluminum instead of reducing the supply.