President Trump Should Walk Back New Steel, Aluminum Tariffs against Brazil, Argentina
President Trump this morning announced via Twitter that he is imposing steel and aluminum tariffs against Brazil and Argentina. Tariffs won’t help farmers or manufacturers, warns CEI Senior Fellow Ryan Young:
“President Trump wrongly believes these new steel and aluminum tariffs will help American farmers. Trump should instead remove the tariffs that sparked the trade war and shrank farmers’ export markets in the first place. Today’s new tariffs will have little effect on agriculture but will harm other industries and consumers. More than three quarters of steel goes to construction and automobiles, for example. Before Trump partially rolled back his initial steel and aluminum tariffs, steel prices had spiked enough to add $250 to the cost of most new cars. Those tariffs have so far contributed to more than 15,000 layoffs at auto and steel companies.
“Congress urgently needs to repeal Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and similar clauses that enable such irresponsible presidential tariff-making behavior. Tariffs are harming the United States both economically and diplomatically.”
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