Trump considering steel and aluminum tariff

[Chris0nllyn]

Because...national security.

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.

Recommendations 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.

https://www.commerce.gov/news/press...s-steel-and-aluminum-232-reports-coordination

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.

President 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.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-to-favor-stiffest-u-s-steel-aluminum-tariffs

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

Steel-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.heritage.org/internatio...market-needs-free-trade-not-favoritism#_ftn24

On 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.

https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/has-trump-evolved-trade

 

[Chris0nllyn]

Update:

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday he would impose tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum, in a move the administration said would protect U.S. industry, but which critics said would fail to boost jobs and risked stoking a trade war with China.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-says-u-steel-aluminum-141528279.html

 

[Starman]

Shucks ... for all the clamoring you people did for a businessman to run our country, you sure did pick one who knows how to operate in the red, cause price inflation, interest rate rise acceleration, and reduce the competitiveness of American businesses.

#MAGA

 

[mAlice]

Shucks ... for all the clamoring you people did for a businessman to run our country, you sure did pick one who knows how to operate in the red, cause price inflation, interest rate rise acceleration, and reduce the competitiveness of American businesses.

#MAGA

Any successful businessman knows how to operate in the red. If he didn't, he never see a profit.

 

[Chris0nllyn]

Any successful businessman knows how to operate in the red. If he didn't, he never see a profit.

All that aside, tariffs don't work and I never expected so many people to be for paying more for goods. Well, I did considering the amount of people here surgically attached to Trump, but I brought all this crap up during the campaign.

I wonder if there will ever be a point Republicans looks back and say, "you know what, electing him was a bad idea".

 

[Starman]

All that aside, tariffs don't work and I never expected so many people to be for paying more for goods. Well, I did considering the amount of people here surgically attached to Trump, but I brought all this crap up during the campaign.

I wonder if there will ever be a point Republicans looks back and say, "you know what, electing him was a bad idea".

But he’s draining the swamp. He’s awesome because he’s not establishment. He’s gonna build a wall!

It’s gonna have to get very, very bad before any Trumpeters speak ill of daddy. And even then, they’ll blame Ben Gozzie.

 

[Gilligan]

I've got a bad feeling about this one. We're already paying too much for the aluminum we need in our products.

 

[awpitt]

All that aside, tariffs don't work and I never expected so many people to be for paying more for goods. Well, I did considering the amount of people here surgically attached to Trump, but I brought all this crap up during the campaign.

I wonder if there will ever be a point Republicans looks back and say, "you know what, electing him was a bad idea".

Are you surprised. Don't forget.... Trump said he could shoot someone and his base would still support him.

 

[awpitt]

But he’s draining the swamp. He’s awesome because he’s not establishment. He’s gonna build a wall!

It’s gonna have to get very, very bad before any Trumpeters speak ill of daddy. And even then, they’ll blame Ben Gozzie.

"He’s gonna build a wall!"

It's amazing how "the wall" went from MX is going to pay for the wall.... To we need $8 billion for the wall.... To we need $15 billion for the wall.... To we need $18 billion for the wall.... To we need $21 billion for the wall.... and the latest.... we need $25 billion for the wall....

 

[Starman]

The other interesting part of this ... of course China is mentioned in every article about this. China is on the tariff list. But we get most of our steel and aluminium from Canada. Curiously, Canada not on the list.

 

[seven]

"He’s gonna build a wall!"

It's amazing how "the wall" went from MX is going to pay for the wall.... To we need $8 billion for the wall.... To we need $15 billion for the wall.... To we need $18 billion for the wall.... To we need $21 billion for the wall.... and the latest.... we need $25 billion for the wall....

"white lies"

 

[Chris0nllyn]

Curiously, Canada not on the list.

Especially because the govt. is using the "national security" angle. Canada is one of our allies.





Also, beer prices may go up (though 10oz. cans can't take that much aluminum to make).

According to third-party analyses, this 10% tariff will create a new $347.7 million tax on America's beverage industry, including brewers and beer importers, and result in the loss of 20,291 American jobs. We appreciate the many members of Congress—both Republicans and Democrats—as well members of the cabinet who spoke out against imposing this tariff, many of whom specifically cited their concerns for how this tariff would negatively impact America's beer industry.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...-on-aluminum-imports-next-week-300607017.html

 

[Gilligan]

Also, beer prices may go up (though 10oz. cans can't take that much aluminum to make).

Takes quite a bit of aluminum to build the boats we work on though...and aluminum prices have not exactly been low in recent years to begin with.

At least the beer I drink comes in bottles...

 

[GURPS]

I seriously doubt beer is going to go up that much

 

[Chris0nllyn]

I seriously doubt beer is going to go up that much

Washing machines went up after Trump tariff on those. Why do you think this aluminum tariff will be any different?

 

[GURPS]

Washing machines went up after Trump tariff on those. Why do you think this aluminum tariff will be any different?

I quantified with THAT MUCH .... cans don't weight a whole lot

 

[seven]

I quantified with THAT MUCH .... cans don't weight a whole lot

Bulk mass they do Einstein.

 

[Gilligan]

I quantified with THAT MUCH .... cans don't weight a whole lot

At 1.7 cents per can (now), so 51 cents for a 30-pack. It might be barely noticeable if the cost of aluminum increased 50% but they are not expecting an increase anything close to that.

 

[GURPS]

At 1.7 cents per can (now), so 51 cents for a 30-pack. It might be barely noticeable if the cost of aluminum increased 50% but they are not expecting an increase anything close to that.

Common Sense Isn't ... for some

 

[seven]

Common Sense Isn't ... for some

You.