Tariffs: Saving American Jobs Since...Wait, What?

[Hobbes]

I seriously doubt any of us here understand the complexities of international trade.

What I think is correct is that we have a President who knows how to negotiate by throwing opponents off-balance and even using some fright techniques. His success in dealing with a seemingly impossible situation in Korea has earned him the right to try a similar approach to the trade imbalance issue. I have no doubt that the President's international trade experts do know what is going on. Conventional wisdom and approaches have not been working in this area so Trump is trying a different approach. A cynic might wonder if past adminisrations might not have been somehow "influenced" to favor other economies over our own.

Feel free to disagree and to rant about Trump being a know-nothing but you might end up with egg on your face.

I wouldn't get all giddy over the summit with Kim just yet.

Trump gave Kim what every N. Korean dictator has wanted since the armistice, a face to face meeting with a US president which his people see as equals now.
Trump cancelled joint military exercises with ROK and even used the term that Kim and Putin have used, "provocative".

And what did Trump get in return?
A vague promise to denuclearize(whatever that means in Kim's mind) at some nebulous date in the future. Maybe.

No declaration of nuclear stockpiles and their locations.
No agreement to allow UN weapons inspectors to examine either locations or weapons.
No commitment to reduce his weapons stockpiles at all.

Even worse, the latest satellite images taken since the summit show that he is building up and improving the nuclear research facility at Yongbyon.

 

[Dale00]

Time will tell.

 

[dennishoddy]

The tarrifs on steel has already got steel companies calling back workers.

https://joeforamerica.com/2018/03/steel-company-re-opening-because-of-trump-tariffs/
Nobody in Granite City, Illinois will ever vote Democrat again. In a move that can support almost 10% of the city’s households, U.S. Steel is bringing 500 jobs, all thanks to Trump.

Recently, Trump announced new steel tariffs that have putting pressure on contractors to use American-made steel. Now, if you want to build in the States, you’ll be getting your steel made down the street instead of looking for third world suppliers. The steel tariffs, along with the construction boom thanks to a President who cares about business opportunities, is enough evidence for US Steel CEO David Burritt to make a business decision. Speaking with media last night, Burritt announced that his company would be recalling 500 employees to the US Steel plant in Granite City.

There are others firing up to bring back employees. The rust belt will never be in its past glory with hundreds of thousands of employees, mainly because of technology and the steel workers union is no longer effective which is one of the main reasons the rust belt went overseas.
Other countries were willing to embrace technology while the unions in the US refused to allow it in their plants as it would cost jobs. The retirement rolls were bloated and they could not be funded.
The new steel companies will be lean and mean.

 

[dennishoddy]

I wouldn't get all giddy over the summit with Kim just yet.

Trump gave Kim what every N. Korean dictator has wanted since the armistice, a face to face meeting with a US president which his people see as equals now.
Trump cancelled joint military exercises with ROK and even used the term that Kim and Putin have used, "provocative".

And what did Trump get in return?
A vague promise to denuclearize(whatever that means in Kim's mind) at some nebulous date in the future. Maybe.

No declaration of nuclear stockpiles and their locations.
No agreement to allow UN weapons inspectors to examine either locations or weapons.
No commitment to reduce his weapons stockpiles at all.

Even worse, the latest satellite images taken since the summit show that he is building up and improving the nuclear research facility at Yongbyon.

Looks like a wastewater sanitation plant to me. But what do I know.

 

[Hobbes]

Looks like a wastewater sanitation plant to me. But what do I know.

That site has a 5 megawatt nuclear reactor that produces the plutonium used to make their nuclear weapons.
There's more in the article I hyperlinked to.

 

[Dave70968]

We've been here before.

If you remember, the George W Bush administration tried a steel tariff and found that for every job they created in the steel industry they lost 4 jobs in industries that consume steel, chiefly auto workers.


It would be nice if this administration could learn from the past instead of having to learn EVERYTHING the hard way.

To wit:
http://money.cnn.com/2018/06/27/news/baytown-texas-steel-pipe-workers-trump-tariffs/index.html

President Donald Trump's tariffs are hurting a Texas steel pipe manufacturer.
Borusan Mannesmann, which makes pipes for Texas' oil and gas refineries, estimates that the 25% tariff on imported steel will cost the company up to $35 million a year and kill its plans to expand and hire more workers.

The company imports steel tubing and casing from its parent company in Turkey, and finishes the products at a factory in Baytown. It is seeking an exemption from the tariffs and is awaiting the administration's decision.

"It would really impact the community, which already has a 10% unemployment rate," CEO Joel Johnson told CNN's Poppy Harlow in an interview Wednesday. "We want to grow."

Johnson is offering Trump a deal: In return for a two-year tariff exemption, the company will spend up to $75 million to build another pipe factory in Baytown, which it says would create 170 jobs.

"We're not asking for a forever relief," Johnson said. "We're just asking for a short-term bridge, and give us enough time to build another factory."

"It's a win-win for America," he added.

The Commerce Department declined to comment on the status of the exemption request.

Borusan Mannesmann is one of about 21,000 US companies that have filed for waivers from the steel and aluminum tariffs. The Commerce Department has granted seven, including Schick Manufacturing, the razor blade producer.

Mid-Continent Nail, the largest nail manufacturer in the United States, has also been caught in the Trump administration's trade fight.

Its plant in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, laid off 60 of its 500 workers last week because of higher steel costs. The company blames the 25% tariff on imported steel. Orders for nails plunged 50% after the company raised its prices to deal with higher costs.

Mid-Continent Nail is "on the brink of extinction," spokesman James Glassman told Harlow in an interview on Tuesday.​

To bring that home, since Oklahoma is such a big oil- and gas-producing state, what do you think an increase in the price of pipe will do to job growth in the oil patch? To energy company profitability? To tax revenues from production?

 

[dennishoddy]

The way I see it, is that these tariffs are part of the long game of bringing manufacturing, steel and aluminum production back to this country after the disastrous.
I hope Borusan Mannesmann gets the exemption and does build a pipe manufacturing facility here in the US. I believe that's the goal.

 

[SMS]

The tarrifs on steel has already got steel companies calling back workers.

https://joeforamerica.com/2018/03/steel-company-re-opening-because-of-trump-tariffs/
Nobody in Granite City, Illinois will ever vote Democrat again. In a move that can support almost 10% of the city’s households, U.S. Steel is bringing 500 jobs, all thanks to Trump.

Recently, Trump announced new steel tariffs that have putting pressure on contractors to use American-made steel. Now, if you want to build in the States, you’ll be getting your steel made down the street instead of looking for third world suppliers. The steel tariffs, along with the construction boom thanks to a President who cares about business opportunities, is enough evidence for US Steel CEO David Burritt to make a business decision. Speaking with media last night, Burritt announced that his company would be recalling 500 employees to the US Steel plant in Granite City.

There are others firing up to bring back employees. The rust belt will never be in its past glory with hundreds of thousands of employees, mainly because of technology and the steel workers union is no longer effective which is one of the main reasons the rust belt went overseas.
Other countries were willing to embrace technology while the unions in the US refused to allow it in their plants as it would cost jobs. The retirement rolls were bloated and they could not be funded.
The new steel companies will be lean and mean.

Saving jobs in one industry, while costing jobs in others and raising prices across many industries.

This article is just proof of the myopic effect of tariffs. Tariffs force domestic producers to increase production. That increase requires investment. That investment cost money. That cost is passed on to consumers who already have less resources available due to rising costs and lost revenue in other industries.

 

[dennishoddy]

Saving jobs in one industry, while costing jobs in others and raising prices across many industries.

This article is just proof of the myopic effect of tariffs. Tariffs force domestic producers to increase production. That increase requires investment. That investment cost money. That cost is passed on to consumers who already have less resources available due to rising costs and lost revenue in other industries.

It's also forcing companies like Borusan Mannesmann in Texas to promise they will build a pipe manufacturing plant to produce pipe here in the US vs importing it from Turkey.
It's not going to happen overnight. It's the long game goal to bring businesses back to this country that fled it in the past from piss poor trade practices past administrations allowed.
Will it hurt our back pockets? Probably, but I don't see any way around it if we want manufacturing back in this country with jobs for our people.

 

[Dale00]

Myopia is in the eye of the beholder.....we all tend to pick our favorite opinion source and go with what best dovetails with your opinion.
The consensus is that tariffs are bad.....but if they are bad for us, why are they good for other countries?