Trump to impose new tariffs on steel and aluminum

hawkwing wrote:

The honest truth is this will hurt the lower and lower middle class families the most as manufacturing jobs will move over seas where products can be manufactured using cheap steel and aluminum.



But hey, then we can add more tariffs to more products and make things more and more expensive.

I'm really having a hard time understanding all the kerfluffel.



The US already has tariffs on over 12,000 products.



https://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/bychapter/index.htm



On March 1, a week before Trump implemented the new tariffs, the USITC was already imposing a 20% tariff on steel imports (Chapter 72), and tariffs from 3.6% to 45% on aluminum (Chapter 76).



As far as I can tell, what Trump did was increase steel tariffs that already existed, and in some cases actually lowered aluminum tariffs. However, as he did this under his National Security powers as Commander-in-Chief, he can exempt whomever he wants or discard the new tariffs all together. He is already using the tariffs as a carrot and a stick -- exempting Canada (our biggest steel exporter) and Mexico provided they continue renegotiating NAFTA, offering to lift the higher tariffs from China in exchange for China abandoning its policy of "voluntary" technology transfers as a cost of doing business for American companies, and I'm sure similar demands have been made of other affected countries.



I get that trade wars are bad, but we are already there. I don't have an issue with a president taking incremental steps like this to increase negotiating power and help eliminate trade burdens other countries are already placing on us.



How else do you anti-tariffers propose we go about eliminating tariffs, duties, and burdens on our exports and domestic businesses?

snoscythe wrote:

The honest truth is this will hurt the lower and lower middle class families the most as manufacturing jobs will move over seas where products can be manufactured using cheap steel and aluminum.



But hey, then we can add more tariffs to more products and make things more and more expensive.

I'm really having a hard time understanding all the kerfluffel.



The US already has tariffs on over 12,000 products.



https://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/bychapter/index.htm



On March 1, a week before Trump implemented the new tariffs, the USITC was already imposing a 20% tariff on steel imports (Chapter 72), and tariffs from 3.6% to 45% on aluminum (Chapter 76).



As far as I can tell, what Trump did was increase steel tariffs that already existed, and in some cases actually lowered aluminum tariffs. However, as he did this under his National Security powers as Commander-in-Chief, he can exempt whomever he wants or discard the new tariffs all together. He is already using the tariffs as a carrot and a stick -- exempting Canada (our biggest steel exporter) and Mexico provided they continue renegotiating NAFTA, offering to lift the higher tariffs from China in exchange for China abandoning its policy of "voluntary" technology transfers as a cost of doing business for American companies, and I'm sure similar demands have been made of other affected countries.



I get that trade wars are bad, but we are already there. I don't have an issue with a president taking incremental steps like this to increase negotiating power and help eliminate trade burdens other countries are already placing on us.



How else do you anti-tariffers propose we go about eliminating tariffs, duties, and burdens on our exports and domestic businesses?

What Trump promised he’d do, impose tariffs with no exemptions, and what he ended up doing are, not surprisingly, two different things. Tariffs are taxes passed on to the consumer or eaten by the business importing it, but that doesn’t mean they should never be imposed, but done carefully. Tariffs on Chinese steel makes little sense....we only import something like 2% of our steel from the Chinese. I do think Trump’s instinct to deal with the assymetry of trade with China—Chinese treat our products much more harshly than we of their products—is valid. But tariffs that just raise the price on de minimus levels of trade aren’t going to change the Chinese. I’d tit for tat them and them alone and for example leave the EU out of it. I have a hard time thinking tariffs on Canadian steel will change them regards NAFTA—we actually have a trade surplus with Canada, but that’s just me.

I absolutely don't claim to know or understand it all. I just get tired of the "Tariffs are evil! Trump's an idiot" levels of conversation about much MUCH more nuanced topics.