Tag: Trump trade war

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.

Trump faces failing strategy on auto jobs as he heads to Ohio

As the president tries to save an auto plant in Ohio, his tariffs have cost automakers billions.

President Donald Trump heads to Ohio Wednesday embroiled in a fight with General Motors and the United Auto Workers over the closing of GM’s Lordstown plant. But his attempts to save manufacturing jobs have battered the auto industry and could erode his loyal base in the Midwest.

Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum have cost Ford and GM about $1 billion each. GM Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra cited the tariffs in November when she announced the 14,000 job cuts that included the Lordstown plant’s shuttering. Potentially making things even worse, Trump is now weighing new tariffs on foreign automobiles that could threaten hundreds of thousands of additional U.S. jobs.

“The reality is auto tariffs would put Ohio into a recession,” said Dan Ujczo, a Columbus-based international trade lawyer who has been closely studying the impact of recent trade actions on Ohio companies.

View the complete March 19 article by Timothy Noah and Adam Behsudi on the Politico website here.

Trump’s trade war has cost farmers $1 billion — in just one state alone

And Nebraska farmers aren’t fooled by Trump’s rhetoric.

Trump’s disastrous trade war is hammering farmers in the midwest, with a new report showing the state of Nebraska will lose more than $1 billion in 2018 alone.

In an analysis, the Omaha World-Herald calls “eye-popping,” the Nebraska Farm Bureau laid out the extent of the damage done by Trump’s trade war.

Losses to Nebraska farm revenues due to the trade war is between $695 million and $1.026 billion in 2018 alone, Jay Rempe, Nebraska Farm Bureau’s senior economist, told the World-Herald.

View the complete December 6 article by Dan Desai Martin on the ShareBlue.com website here.

Huawei executive wanted by U.S. faces fraud charges related to Iran sanctions, could face 30 years in prison

A senior Chinese tech executive faces fraud charges in the United States related to business dealings with Iran, a Canadian prosecutor said Friday, offering the first details of a case that has pummeled financial markets and raised questions about a current trade truce between Beijing and Washington.

Before a packed courtroom in Vancouver, prosecutor John Gibb-Carsley argued that Meng Wanzhou committed fraud in 2013 by telling financial institutions that China’s Huawei had no connection to a Hong Kong-based company, Skycom, which was reportedly selling U.S. goods to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions. Meng’s lawyer denied the charge.

News this week of her arrest roiled markets already shaken by months of conflict between the world’s two largest economies. The fear is that the arrest of a top Chinese executive could impact a trade war truce struck last week by President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

View the complete December 7 article by Emily Rauhala on The Washington Post website here.

‘Chaos breeds chaos’: Trump’s erratic and false claims roil the globe. Again.

President Trump cast more doubt on trade talks with China in a series of tweets that helped erase optimism and reignite fears of a global economic slowdown. (Reuters)

After his Argentine steak dinner last weekend with Chinese President Xi Jinping, President Trump announced that they had reached an “incredible deal” to temporarily suspend his trade war. But days later, Trump declared, “I am a Tariff man.”

Trump last week proposed stripping away electric-car subsidies from General Motors as punishment for the automotive giant moving to cease production at plants in the United States and Canada. But then his chief economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, said the White House would do no such thing. Targeting a single company, he explained, would be illegal.

Then there is the way Trump talks about how the economy works — imprecise at best, ignorant at worst. For instance, the president routinely says that China and other countries are paying billions of dollars to the United States because of his tariffs. But that is false. Tariffs are paid by companies, often U.S. firms, that import foreign-made products.

View the complete December 4 article by Daman Paletta and Philip Rucker on The Washington Post website here.

China says it will immediately retaliate when Trump tariffs take effect

President Trump said that his administration’s tariffs on Chinese goods are “doing a very good job,” and threatened more tariffs if China retaliates. (The Washington Post)

BEIJING — Beijing struck back Tuesday against President Trump’s new tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports, vowing it would immediately retaliate when they take effect and threatening a protracted dispute that could raise the prices of household goods in both countries.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has refused to budge amid mounting threats from Trump, who vowed to place higher border taxes on practically everything the United States buys from China if Beijing unveils new duties, effective Monday at noon.

“In order to safeguard our legitimate rights and interests and the global free trade order, China will have to take countermeasures,” the country’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement. “We deeply regret this.”

View the complete September 18 article by Danielle Paquette on the Washington Post website here.

Trump announces tariffs on $200B in Chinese goods

Credit: Visual China Group, Getty Images

President Trump on Monday announced that he is directing the U.S. Trade Representative to impose tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports, a move expected to escalate the trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

The tariffs are expected to go into effect on Sept. 24 and will be set at a 10 percent level until the end of the year, after which they will increase to 25 percent.

The tariffs will hit everything from fish such as salmon and halibut, vegetables, nuts, grains, orange juice and metals including titanium and uranium.

View the complete September 17 article by Vicki Needham here.

Casualties of Trump’s Trade War

Credit: at Pixabay

When White House economic adviser Gary Cohn showed up in the Oval Office earlier this year to give Donald Trump news of an excellent jobs report, the president’s keen grasp of economics and policy instantly came into play. “It’s all because of my tariffs,” he replied, according to Bob Woodward’s new book, “Fear.” Cohn had to inform him that the tariffs were not yet in effect.

Now they are, and the news is not so sunny. The Federal Reserve reported Wednesday that already, “Tariffs are reported to be contributing to rising input costs, mainly for manufacturers,” and worries about trade disputes have “prompted some businesses to scale back or postpone capital investment.”

Eighty percent of the world’s recreational vehicles are built in and around Elkhart County, Indiana, which voted for Trump by a 2-1 margin. When times are bad, people don’t buy RVs, because they are a luxury, not a necessity. The Great Recession walloped Elkhart, which saw its unemployment rate hit 20 percent. Nine years later, the rate is 2.3 percent. But RV sales are falling and some plants have cut production to four days a week.

View the complete September 15 article by Steve Chapman on the Creators.com website here.

Want to Know More About: The Trump Trade War

Christine Romans: “The President Often Says These Are Tariffs On China, That China Pays, But It’s Really The U.S. Importing Companies That Pay, Whether It’s Electronics, Shoes, Sporting Gear, Or Food, Companies Pay The Import Tax To The U.S. Government And Then The Companies Either Eat That Higher Cost Or Pay It Onto You, The Consumer.” ROMANS: “So far the U.S. Hit China with $250 billion on tariffs on $250 billion goods. The President often says these are tariffs on China, that China pays, but it’s really the U.S. importing companies that pay, whether it’s electronics, shoes, sporting gear, or food, companies pay the import tax to the U.S. Government and then the companies either eat the higher cost or pass it along to you, the consumer.” [New Day, CNN, 9/19/18; VIDEO]

Christine Romans: “The Auto Industry Already Warns The Tariffs On Car Parts Could Raise The Price Of A New Car Several Thousand Dollars.” ROMANS: “It’s really the companies that pay the import tax to the U.S. Government and then the companies either eat the higher cost or pass it along to you, the consumer. In fact, the auto industry already warns tariffs on car parts could raise the price of cars by several thousands dollars.” [New Day, CNN, 9/19/18; VIDEO]

Farmers slam Trump’s trade war for hurting the heartland

Those hurt by Trump’s trade war are fighting back.

Pres. Trump in the White House Cabinet Room. Credit: Getty, Win McNamee

A new multi-million dollar “Tariffs Hurt the Heartland” ad campaign has just launched, targeting one of Trump’s hallmark economic policies — his disastrous trade war. The media offensive coincides with the midterm election cycle, which is already trending in Democrats’ favor.

“The campaign will focus on telling the stories of the American businesses, farmers, workers and families harmed by tariffs through town-hall style events, grassroots outreach to Congress and the administration, social media, rapid response and digital advertising,” USA Today reports.

They’ll do that by buying up TV, radio, and online ads that detail how Trump’s tariffs are harming families, farmer and factory workers.

View the complete September 13 article by Eric Boehlert on the ShareBlue.com website here.