Trump announced sweeping new tariffs on steel and aluminum. The stock market threw a tantrum and so did GOP leaders.
Feature images is of a steel mill in Germany from the New York Times article Trump Plans Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum and Markets Slump.
The NY Times commented “At a White House meeting on Thursday, President Trump said that he did not want any nation to be exempted from the order.”
GOP Tantrum
GOP leaders unleashed a verbal attack on Trump over his plan to impose steel, aluminum tariffs.
Republicans in Congress broke ranks with the president in an unprecedented way, with one after another coming forward during the day to caution about the dangers of tariffs and plead with Trump to hold off on any action.
“My advice was…that you’ve gotta be careful here, you get into a tariff war,” Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., told reporters. “SoI would prefer that this was not where we were.”
Canada, a U.S. ally and large trading partner, said Thursday that it views “any trade restrictions on Canadian steel and aluminum as absolutely unacceptable.”
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said Trump’s tariffs would be a “huge job-killing tax hike” consumers.
[Senator Orrin] Hatch said, “I don’t believe tariffs work very well and, secondly, it creates tariff wars.”
EU Tantrum
The EU also threw a hissy fit, promising a Firm Response.
“We strongly regret this step, which appears to represent a blatant intervention to protect U.S. domestic industry and not to be based on any national security justification,” the European Commission chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker said in a statement.
“We will not sit idly while our industry is hit with unfair measures that put thousands of European jobs at risk … The EU will react firmly and commensurately to defend our interests.”
Stock Market Tantrum
Costs
According to the World Steel Association, buildings and infrastructure use 50% of global steel production. The article also notes nearly 95 million vehicles were produced in 2016. On average, 900 kg of steel is used per vehicle. That’s 1,102 pounds of steel per car.
