Posted on 06/01/2018 6:05:22 AM PDT by reaganaut1
So much for Donald Trump as genius deal-maker. We are supposed to believe his tariff threats are a clever negotiation strategy, but on Thursday he revealed hes merely an old-fashioned protectionist. His decision to slap tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Europe, Canada and Mexico will hurt the U.S. economy, his own foreign policy and perhaps Republicans in November.
In March Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross dangled temporary exemptions to 25% steel and 10% aluminum tariffs to extort trade concessions from U.S. allies. Mr. Ross withdrew the exemptions on Thursday, saying the U.S. was unable to reach satisfactory arrangements with Canada, Mexico and the European Union. He means they didnt unilaterally surrender.
Mr. Ross announced the tariffs under Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act ostensibly to circumvent the World Trade Organization. WTO rules let countries adopt tariffs to protect national security, but Canada, Mexico and Europe are hardly a threat.
Canadian steel and aluminum are actually integral to U.S. national defense, as Commerces Section 232 reports acknowledge. Mr. Trump complained that Lockheed s F-35s cost too much, but now hes going to make U.S. fighter jets and other weapons more expensive, which could give Russia an advantage in international arms sales. Brilliant. Another irony is that Mr. Trump has denounced China for using national security as a pretext to promote domestic industries like semiconductors. Hes essentially doing the same.
American businesses rely on complex cross-border supply chains that take time and money to change. Most will have to internalize the tariff costs, which will mean raising prices or hiring fewer workers and paying lower wages. The tariffs also create uncertainty as businesses petition Commerce for product exemptions while delaying investment. Note to Mr. Trump: Regulatory uncertainty was a big reason growth was so slow during the Obama years.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Umm, tariffs will not hurt profits at all. As for the stock market, it is a globalist casino and does not reflect main street health.
Steve Moore and Larry Kudlow = Free Traitors.
We stopped manufacturing steel because other countries could sell it to us cheaper and we couldn’t export into those countries. Now we have to pay THEIR price for steel.
It’s like oil. Mideast cheap oil was a great thing until OPEC discovered extortion.
Why is it, that not one article states the fact that these countries put tariffs on our goods, or that they artificially reduce the price of their steel and aluminum to flood into out country. Also, that these materials are not as good as ours.
Mr. Ross withdrew the exemptions on Thursday, saying the U.S. was unable to reach satisfactory arrangements with Canada, Mexico and the European Union. He means they didnt unilaterally surrender.
Actually what it means is that they didn’t want to reach
a deal.
This BS belongs in the New York Times...
Then pay a tariff afterward on what you make to get your goods back in the country. We are the big consumer. We cut corporate taxes. Make it here and sell it here... much cheaper.
We get a feaver
Europe dies
exactly, and we are in a growing economy which positions us to take these steps.
The US govt used to fund itself solely with tariffs. Of course, the globalist, CofC-loving WSJ is against these changes. The whole idea of these bad trade deals was to cut down the US to size by de-industrializing it. A lot of this happened during Clintons presidency.
Many have a Stockholm Syndrome approach to tariffs. This countrys industries have been sold out by the globalists for decades, and the populace so propagandized by free trade that they choose to remain in these horrendous trade deals.
I call it gas lighting. And may "Conservative" heroes spread that propaganda. Rush, Levin et al... Sorry but that is the sad truth.
Isn’t most Aluminum recycled?
I take this as partly a national security issue. If the playing field isn’t level then that also plays into it.
Complex...
Exactly. That’s why I’ve said that uniform tariffs on all products and raw materials make a heck of a lot more sense.
All that is being reported is what Trump is doing to them. Research it and see what EUROPE is doing to US. These Trump tariffs are PART OF THE DEAL ... you hit them hard, they don’t like it and trade policies change. But without the tariffs from Trump, Europe lends a deaf ear to the imbalance in their favor, and has done so for years.
Now, it appears tariffs were a key part of a new and effective Trump strategy.
How many times in the future are "journalists" going to use this phrase? :-)
Protectionism worked great for America for 180 years. We lowered the import tariffs and have been losing industries and jobs and knowledge ever since. And now we are far too dependent on other countries.
If most aluminum was recycled than I’m not sure we’d even need tariffs — right?
Reciprocal is the word for 1 on 1 trade. And laundering product via NAFTA is cheating via loophole. Both need to stop, and Trump is making it happen. They were warned, and given chances to self correct. They didn’t.
I’m fine with higher prices till it changes. Sacrificing for the long term. And we will win long term.
The free ride is over.
Dear World: Get used to it.
Dear handwringers: f’off.
MAGA!!!!!
Alumina extracted from bauxite ore (10 to 25 percent content) is electrically processed to get aluminum. The “Red Mud” alkali heavy waste from Bauxite processing is a big problem, just like any other tailing storage from mining with chemical extraction.
Virtually all the raw ore is found in the tropics. The separated aluminum oxides are transported for the metal’s extraction. Most of the aluminum production favors access of the lower cost hydroelectric facilities as extraction is a purely electrically driven process.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.