Yeah that’s because the U.S. doesn’t have the production capacity to support its steel demands. We import something like 20% of the steel we use, and it’s mostly from our neighbors, which these fucking dumbasses are pissing off for zero benefit.
Biden took a protectionist action by blocking a Japanese company’s purchase of a major US Steel company. Trump took further protectionist action by tariffing foreign steel.
Now both of those may have backfired because the market manipulation prevented outside investors from modernizing US steel production facilities, and protective tariffs by definition raise prices.
In effect it is less competition and crappier product for US consumers.
He could just pass laws to require more steel production, even subsidise it, which would work faster and not be painful, but that kind of planning and forward thinking are beyond a conservative.
Yeah that’s because the U.S. doesn’t have the production capacity to support its steel demands. We import something like 20% of the steel we use, and it’s mostly from our neighbors, which these fucking dumbasses are pissing off for zero benefit.
Biden took a protectionist action by blocking a Japanese company’s purchase of a major US Steel company. Trump took further protectionist action by tariffing foreign steel.
Now both of those may have backfired because the market manipulation prevented outside investors from modernizing US steel production facilities, and protective tariffs by definition raise prices.
In effect it is less competition and crappier product for US consumers.
His rationale is to slowly bring that production back to the US. Can the US even make enough steel to meet its demand domestically?
The theory is that it’ll hurt for 5 to 10 years but be economically beneficial in the long run.
He doesn’t have rationale.
He could just pass laws to require more steel production, even subsidise it, which would work faster and not be painful, but that kind of planning and forward thinking are beyond a conservative.