Chris0nllyn
Well-Known Member
Because...national security.
In 2002, similar tariffs (30%) on steel went into effect. They were removed in 2003 after finding that 200,000 people lost their jobs in steel-consuming industries (the steel mill industry in America employs only about 147,000 people) due to higher steel prices, resulting in about $4 billion in lost wages.
http://www.tradepartnership.com/pdf_files/2002jobstudy.pdf
The Department of Commerce found that the quantities and circumstances of steel and aluminum imports “threaten to impair the national security,” as defined by Section 232.
Recommendations of the Steel Report:
Secretary Ross has recommended to the President that he consider the following alternative remedies to address the problem of steel imports:
1.A global tariff of at least 24% on all steel imports from all countries, or
2.A tariff of at least 53% on all steel imports from 12 countries (Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Egypt, India, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Russia, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam) with a quota by product on steel imports from all other countries equal to 100% of their 2017 exports to the United States, or
3.A quota on all steel products from all countries equal to 63% of each country’s 2017 exports to the United States.
https://www.commerce.gov/news/press...s-steel-and-aluminum-232-reports-coordinationRecommendations of the Aluminum Report:
Secretary Ross has recommended to President Trump three alternative remedies for dealing with the excessive imports of aluminum. These would cover both aluminum ingots and a wide variety of aluminum products.
1.A tariff of at least 7.7% on all aluminum exports from all countries, or
2.A tariff of 23.6% on all products from China, Hong Kong, Russia, Venezuela and Vietnam. All the other countries would be subject to quotas equal to 100% of their 2017 exports to the United States, or
3.A quota on all imports from all countries equal to a maximum of 86.7% of their 2017 exports to the United States.
The president last year ordered the Commerce Department to probe whether imports of steel and aluminum pose a threat to U.S. national security, invoking the seldom-used Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Act, which allows the president to impose tariffs without congressional approval.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-to-favor-stiffest-u-s-steel-aluminum-tariffsPresident Donald Trump has told confidants that he wants to impose the harshest tariffs on steel and aluminum imports recommended by the Commerce Department, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Trump has said he wants to slap a global tariff of 24 percent on steel imports, the most severe of three options presented to him in a report in January. He’s also considering as much as a 10 percent duty on all aluminum entering the U.S., which would be more than 2.5 percentage points higher than the harshest of Commerce’s recommendations.
In 2002, similar tariffs (30%) on steel went into effect. They were removed in 2003 after finding that 200,000 people lost their jobs in steel-consuming industries (the steel mill industry in America employs only about 147,000 people) due to higher steel prices, resulting in about $4 billion in lost wages.
http://www.tradepartnership.com/pdf_files/2002jobstudy.pdf
https://www.heritage.org/internatio...market-needs-free-trade-not-favoritism#_ftn24Steel-consuming industries are not the only losers in this scenario. While stakeholders in the U.S. steel-making industry are shouting at the top of their lungs about China, Japan, South Korea, and other countries offering “unfair” steel prices, everyday Americans are struggling to afford a new washing machine or a refrigerator when the old one breaks down. Many of the goods they purchase, from lawn mowers to grills, are made of steel, and import tariffs raise the price of those goods. The special interest tariffs that steelmakers plead for are really just another tax on Americans and one more thing that makes it harder for average families to get by.
https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/has-trump-evolved-tradeOn the steel 232, of course the administration is loaded with former industry executives and trade lawyers. It’s safe to assume the steel producers will get their bowls filled. But, the relationship works both ways. Who better than the administration’s steel guys to explain to the industry that the risks of imposing tariffs under Section 232 would be too great and that the administration will help them out in other ways. By other ways, what is meant is that, in addition to the 158 already existing antidumping and countervailing duty measures restricting U.S. imports of 18 different kinds of steel from 29 countries at huge costs to downstream industries, there will be even more. How else might the administration help the U.S. steel oligarchs? By guaranteeing them a bigger slice of the $1.5 trillion infrastructure pie and by getting an enforceable commitment from China to reduce capacity and curtail production, which brings us to the other even more explosive case in the pipeline.