Revealed: The stunning annual costs of Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs on US consumers and businesses

President Donald Trump has been doubling down on his love of tariffs this week, vowing to increase tariffs on Chinese imports. Trump’s tariffs, however, aren’t limited to China: he has also been imposing tariffs on U.S. allies such as Canada and Mexico. And according to analysis from the Peterson Institute for International Economics, steel and aluminum tariffs are costing Americans hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Analysis from the Peterson Institute shows that consumers and businesses in the United States are paying over $900,000 per year for every job created or saved by Trump’s steel tariffs. The Independent quotes Gary Hufbauer, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute and the person who did the steel tariffs calculation, as saying that the cost of Trump’s steel tariffs is “very high. It’s arresting. The reason it’s so high is that steel is a very capital-intensive industry. There are not many workers.”

Trump, however, has vigorously defended his steel tariffs, insisting that they have been a success—especially in Pennsylvania, a swing state that Trump won in 2016 and is hoping to win again in 2020. Last week, the president tweeted, “232 Tariffs make Pennsylvania and USA more prosperous/secure by bringing Steel and Aluminum industries BACK. Tariffs are working. Pittsburgh is again The Steel City. USA economy is BOOMING!”

View the complete May 9 article by Alex Henderson on the AlterNet website here.