Tariffs on steel and aluminum will raise prices and hurt American manufacturing: CEI analysis

President Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum, while less severe than Trump’s initial plan of universal tariffs, will still hurt consumers and domestic manufacturing. CEI Senior Economist Ryan Young gives his take on the president’s actions.

“While a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum is less severe than the universal tariffs President Trump proposed during his campaign, today’s new tariffs would still raise consumer prices and harm American manufacturing.

“Trump’s last round of metals tariffs from his first term gained about a thousand jobs in the steel and aluminum industries themselves. But they destroyed about 75,000 jobs in steel- and aluminum-using industries such as autos, construction, and beverages.

“Even as an election-year stunt to appeal to Pennsylvania and Ohio voters, the math doesn’t add up. There are more people working as manicurists than in the steel and aluminum industries combined. With the election over, the tariffs now make even less sense.

“Trump’s early actions show the importance of the separation of powers. The Constitution gives all taxing powers to Congress and none to the president. We are learning the hard way why that is. Congress should never have delegated any taxing powers to the president in the first place, and now consumers and industries alike will pay the price until Congress reasserts itself.”