Donald Trump recently announced a substantial increase in tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, doubling the rate to 50 percent for steel and 20–25 percent for aluminum. Trump justifies these tariffs as an effort to secure the U.S. steel industry and reduce reliance on foreign supply chains. While supporters argue the policy strengthens domestic production, critics are concerned that the tariffs could increase costs for industries that rely on imported metals, such as automotive, construction, and canned food manufacturing, resulting in rising prices that disproportionately affect low-income consumers.
The tariff hike has sparked international criticism as well, particularly among key trading partners in the European Union, Canada, and Mexico. These countries were previously affected by similar measures and retaliated with tariffs on U.S. exports in 2018, notably in agriculture and consumer goods. Experts warn that the current plan could revive trade tensions, complicate negotiations with allies, and escalate economic uncertainty.
What do you think of the new tariffs? Do you think that the tariffs will create a positive change for domestic production? Or, do you think it creates economic uncertainty for many individuals and industries?
Tariffs basically never help except in a few select situations. For instance, “infant industry” situations where a country needs time to scale up some industry and there’s real promise that once they do, it’ll be competitive. If a country is trying to corner some critical market by dumping, targeted tariffs can be smart. But mostly, tariffs are stupid.
There’s a legit national security argument for steel and probably aluminum but a better solution for materials used to make things would be to just subsidize those companies for domestic sales so you don’t screw over every industry that uses them. Steel definitely isn’t an infant industry. We have the technology.
An even better solution is to not piss off all your most reliable allies and trading partners. But I guess that cat’s out the bag.
Hadn’t considered this until just now, but the vast majority of surgical instruments are steel - especially German steel. I’m not involved in purchasing, but I wonder if / how much this is impacting the OR’s bottom line in US hospitals.
This is going to make it so it is no longer beneficial to manufacture in America for some companies.
This isn’t going to make uncompetitive us steel competitive, it’s just going to cause less consumption of steel and less construction at a time the US wants to build more factories and houses.
Now’s probably a good time to buy alternative metal stocks.
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