The following article by Aaron Gregg and Christian Davenport was posted on the Washington Post website March 5, 2018:
President Trump rattled markets and irked U.S. allies last week when he moved to impose steep tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, insisting such imports are a threat to national security. Now, a growing chorus from the defense industry has come out against the move.
In an interview on CNBC Friday, the head of one of the largest industry associations said the tariffs have the potential to increase costs for the military and hurt U.S. exporters.
“This is going to impact companies big and small in the aerospace and defense world [and] more importantly we’re worried about retaliation,” said Eric Fanning, chief executive of the Aerospace Industries Association, which represents more than 300 aerospace and defense manufacturers and suppliers.
Fanning went a step further when he argued that the tariffs could indirectly hurt U.S. national security by putting a damper on economic growth. The strong U.S. economy has long been a primary driver of the country’s military pre-eminence, with the U.S. government spending more on defense than any other country. Continue reading “Trump says steel imports are a threat to national security. The defense industry disagrees.”