Why Some American Businesses Want More Tariffs
Many American businesses are understandably unsettled by the higher costs and general uncertainty that President Donald Trump’s tariffs and tariff threats have injected into the economy.
Some, however, are cheering for more—because they stand to reap the benefits of higher prices, while those costs will fall on everyone else.
In a letter to the White House on Monday, several organizations representing U.S. steelmakers called on Trump to hike tariffs on steel and eliminate the government’s exemption process that allows some imported steel to enter the country without being subject to those higher taxes. Increased steel imports, the organizations argued, are “once again threatening the viability of domestic steel producers and U.S. national security.”
The steel industry got its wish, in a way, on Tuesday morning, when Trump suddenly announced huge new tariffs on steel imports from Canada—thus escalating a North American trade war that seems to change by the day.
Even before those tariffs, prices on the domestic market were rising as American manufacturers anticipated new tariffs coming down the pike. Reuters reported last month that steel prices in the U.S. had climbed 20 percent since Trump took office, compared with a 6 percent hike on prices in Europe.
Of course, it should be no surprise that American steelmakers would welcome (and lobby
Article from Reason.com
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