I don't know much about the steel tariffs that Chairman Bush instituted in the last year or two, but I know I disagree with them. It has, as far as I know, had the effect of protecting the steel industry from the effects of dumping by foreign steel producers, but it has had a much more powerful effect in the wrong direction. Far more businesses turn steel into durable goods than produce the steel that they use. Far more people work for manufacturers of steel products than work for manufacturers of raw steel. The net effect is a drastic reduction in manufacturing and the exporting of jobs to countries that can purchase steel at much lower rates than American producers.
Here in Granite City, Minnesota, one of the major employers is Electrolux, a manufacturer of consumer refrigerators and freezers. I believe their products are sold under the Frigidaire name, as well as a few others. They are currently reducing their workforce and moving part of their operations to China. I can't see how that helps the American economy.
Hitting a little closer to home, the people who will be my mother-in-law and father-in-law this time next month are getting hit hard by the tarrifs as well. They own an automotive exhaust manufacturing plant south of Granite City and west of Minneapolis, and are seeing a dramatic reduction in orders due to the increased cost of their product, and of the automobiles that their products are installed on. They won't be moving their operations to China, but they have to face stiffer competition from other manufacturers that may.
If America is to continue growing economically, we must be able to compete globally. As long as we are being forced to move manufacturing overseas to cope with our own ridiculous economic policies we'll be chasing (and eating) our own tails.
