Listen...me being on the Right, I obviously support Trump's efforts to try and rescue and hopefully revitalize our domestic manufacturing industry (steel and aluminum incl)
But the history of tariffs shows it is NOT the way to do this! Bottom line is
a tariff is a tax. Taxes
do not spur economic growth. Period! Trump is trying to help American workers and he should, but you do that by
lowering taxes on them and the businesses that provide their jobs not by increasing them.
Again, I respect Trump's philosophy and policy objective to rescue American manufacturing. This is not the way. Excellent article on this by some highly respected economists who I read often. Highly recommended reading.
link
http://thehill.com/opinion/international/376539-trump-must-think-twice-about-tariffs
excerpt:
"even if tariffs save every one of the 140,000 or so steel jobs in America, it puts at risk five million manufacturing and related jobs in industries that use steel. In other words, steel and aluminum may win in the short term, but the steel and aluminum users and consumers lose."
and this excerpt:
"Trump should continue to make American producers more competitive in global markets through tax, regulatory, energy, and other pro-America policy changes that bring jobs and capital back to the United States. That is happening at a furious pace right now as Trump has made America almost overnight the best and most reliable place in the world to invest. Steel and aluminum import tariffs will work decisively against this goal."