Bloomberg (October 2)
“The European Union plans to hike tariffs on steel imports to 50% and cut by nearly a half the volume of steel that’s allowed in before that higher rate is imposed.” In recent years, “European steel imports have risen as production has fallen.” This move is designed to “align the bloc’s rate with the US, which has sought to push back against overcapacity from China.”
Tags: Align, EU, Imports, Overcapacity, Production, Steel, Tariffs, U.S.
Reuters (July 22)
“China’s hardened rhetoric against price wars among producers is raising expectations Beijing may be about to kick off industrial capacity cuts in a long-awaited, but challenging, campaign against deflation that carries risks to economic growth.” Such a campaign would “echo” similar successful “reforms a decade ago to reduce the production of steel, cement, glass and coal, which were crucial to ending a period of 54 consecutive months of falling factory gate prices.” Success may prove elusive this round. “The fight against deflation will be much more complicated and poses risks to employment and growth” while U.S. trade war ”is intensifying price wars, squeezing factory profits.”
Tags: Beijing, Cement, China, Coal, Complicated, Deflation, Economic growth, Employment, Expectations, Glass, Growth, Industrial capacity, Price wars, Producers, Rhetoric, Risks, Steel, Trade war, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (June 25)
Steel and aluminum :”are trump’s worst tariffs.” They “will hit consumers, jobs and national security.” On June 3, President Trump announced that U.S. tariff rates on steel and aluminum would double to 50%, effective the next day.“ This move constitutes “the most reckless trade action of the Trump presidency.” The tariffs on these crucial manufacturing materials “will drive up the cost of U.S. manufactured products dramatically.” They may “drag the economy into a recession” and “will increase the probability of retaliation against American exports and an all-out trade war.” On top of that, the tariffs “will harm national security by increasing the cost of two essential components of defense procurement.”
Tags: 50, Aluminum, Consumers, Defense procurement, Economy, Exports, Jobs, Manufacturing, National security, Recession, Reckless, Retaliation, Steel, Tariffs, Trade war, Trump, U.S.
New York Times (May 20)
The Chinese century “may already have dawned, and when historians look back they may very well pinpoint the early months of President Trump’s second term as the watershed moment when China pulled away and left the United States behind.” China “already leads global production in multiple industries — steel, aluminum, shipbuilding, batteries, solar power, electric vehicles, wind turbines, drones, 5G equipment, consumer electronics, active pharmaceutical ingredients and bullet trains.” China is “laser-focused on winning the future.” In contrast, “Mr. Trump is taking a wrecking ball to the pillars of American power and innovation. His tariffs are endangering U.S. companies’ access to global markets and supply chains. He is slashing public research funding and gutting our universities, pushing talented researchers to consider leaving for other countries. He wants to roll back programs for technologies like clean energy and semiconductor manufacturing and is wiping out American soft power in large swaths of the globe.”
Tags: 5G, Aluminum, Batteries, Bullet trains, Chinese century, Clean energy, Consumer electronics, Drones, Electric vehicles, Endangering, Global markets, Innovation, Laser-focused, Manufacturing, Pharmaceutical ingredients, Research, Semiconductor, Shipbuilding, Solar power, Steel, Supply chains, Tariffs, Trump, Wind turbines, Wrecking
New York Times (March 11)
“A new round of tariffs on aluminum and steel went into effect overnight. This time, no U.S. trading partner was spared.” The EU will respond with “$28 billion in retaliatory levies next month on American products, including bourbon, jeans and agricultural products.” While EU officials “hope they can still strike a deal…. President Trump seems determined to stick with his protectionist policies.” Immediate market reaction was muted, though “the sell-off has wiped roughly $4 trillion off the benchmark index in less than a month — as concerns grow that the levies will push up prices and slow growth.”
Tags: $4 trillion, Agricultural products, Aluminum, Bourbon, EU, Growth, Jeans, Market reaction, Prices, Protectionist policies, Retaliatory levies, Sell-off, Steel, Tariffs, Trading partner, Trump, U.S.
Reuters (February 13)
“U.S. President Donald Trump says trade wars are easy to win. If so, his 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports ought to have big overseas producers like Rio Tinto begging for mercy. Yet shareholders in the $107 billion miner and rivals like BHP have already shrugged off concerns. Granted, they may be overly optimistic, or reckon the levies, set to go into effect next month, won’t be imposed. But it also could be because the duties would hurt the U.S. the most.”
Tags: 25% tariffs, Aluminium, BHP, Duties, Hurt, Imports, Miner, Overseas producers, Rio Tinto, Shareholders, Steel, Trade wars, Trump, U.S., Win
Wall Street Journal (September 11)
“For every American employed making steel or aluminum in 2018, 36 were employed by firms that used steel or aluminum as inputs. By raising the prices of these metals, Mr. Trump’s tariffs destroyed far more manufacturing jobs than they created. Overall manufacturing employment fell in each of the four quarters of 2019…. Under Mr. Trump’s protectionist policy, total manufacturing output was 2% lower by the start of the pandemic than it was when he raised tariffs.”
Tags: 2018, Aluminum, Destroyed, Employment, Fell, Inputs, Jobs, Manufacturing, Metals, Output, Pandemic, Prices, Protectionist policy, Steel, Tariffs, Trump
The Guardian (February 24)
“The west stood back and watched in Syria – it must not do the same in Ukraine…. It’s time for the US and its allies to show their steel in the face of Putin’s aggression. We have learned that nothing else will work.”
Tags: Aggression, Allies, Putin, Steel, Stood back, Syria, U.S., Ukraine, Watched, West
Wall Street Journal (September 19)
“If Mr. Trump wants to change Chinese behavior, he should first finish a new Nafta, drop his blunderbuss steel tariffs on allies, forget new auto tariffs, negotiate a zero tariff deal with Europe, and re-enter the Trans-Pacific Partnership.” Then he could “lead a coalition to confront Xi Jinping from a position of strength with targeted trade enforcement rather than scattershot tariffs. The real worry is that Mr. Trump supports tariffs for their own sake, and he may not want a China deal. With Donald Trump and trade, you never know.”
Washington Examiner (June 1)
“With President Trump’s incredibly foolhardy decision Thursday to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada, Mexico, and the European Union, the probability grows of an economic crash this fall.”
