Steel Tarriff
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https://www.ft.com/content/bd60c55e-110c-454e-a9f6-be9233bcc2eb
Joe Biden calls for tripling of tariffs on Chinese steel
US also to probe Chinese shipbuilding as president’s re-election campaign fights for votes in Pennsylvania
US President Joe Biden is pushing for tariffs to triple on Chinese steel and aluminium, as he seeks to boost union support in the swing state of Pennsylvania.
In a meeting with United Steelworkers union members in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Biden will call on trade representative Katherine Tai to triple the tariff on the imports from the current average of 7.5 per cent.
Biden’s campaign is trying to shore up support among union workers ahead of November’s US presidential election, in which Pennsylvania could play a decisive role.
“It is important for us to get ahead of China’s new export surge and their continued pressure on prices that make it hard for American steel companies to compete,” said a senior US official, who added that the actions had “nothing to do with elections”.Tai is nearing completion of a statutory review of the tariffs that former president Donald Trump levied in his trade war against China.
She is also set on Wednesday to unveil a probe into unfair practices in the Chinese shipbuilding industry, following a petition from United Steelworkers.
The US official argued that since imports of Chinese steel were “quite small” at 0.6 per cent of total US steel demand, there would be little impact on inflation, a key electoral concern for Biden.
“We must invest in American manufacturing, but we also have to protect those investments and those workers from unfair exports associated with China’s industrial overcapacity,” said White House national economic adviser Lael Brainard.
Treasury secretary Janet Yellen raised the issue of Chinese overcapacity during a visit to Beijing this month.
China’s export volumes rose by 14 per cent year on year for the first quarter, even as their value fell 12 per cent, according to Morgan Stanley.
The Biden administration’s move to increase tariffs is likely to affect recent efforts by Washington and Beijing to stabilise relations, which last year plummeted to their lowest level since the countries established diplomatic ties in 1979.
The Pittsburgh announcements come as the Biden campaign is seeking to overcome Trump in Pennsylvania, which has played a decisive role in past elections.Biden expressed opposition a month ago to the proposed acquisition of US Steel by Japanese group Nippon Steel, in what was viewed as a political move that upset Japan, a critical ally.
Trump has previously stressed that he would block Nippon Steel’s proposed $14.9bn offer for US Steel. -
I’m old enough to remember when extra tariffs on Chinese goods would lead to a trade war that the US could never win, and wanting to do so was Indicative of being a foolish and feckless man with tiny hands that would destroy us all.
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I’m old enough to remember when extra tariffs on Chinese goods would lead to a trade war that the US could never win, and wanting to do so was Indicative of being a foolish and feckless man with tiny hands that would destroy us all.
@LuFins-Dad said in Steel Tarriff:
I’m old enough to remember when extra tariffs on Chinese goods would lead to a trade war that the US could never win, and wanting to do so was Indicative of being a foolish and feckless man with tiny hands that would destroy us all.
Gee, you're old!
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Racist
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What do you want to bet that President Trump will come out with some statement AGAINST the tariffs on China? LOL
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What do you want to bet that President Trump will come out with some statement AGAINST the tariffs on China? LOL
@taiwan_girl said in Steel Tarriff:
What do you want to bet that President Trump will come out with some statement AGAINST the tariffs on China? LOL
I'd be surprised...
“Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”
Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton
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@taiwan_girl said in Steel Tarriff:
What do you want to bet that President Trump will come out with some statement AGAINST the tariffs on China? LOL
I'd be surprised...
@Jolly I wouldn't. In politics, it seems like you have to take the opposite side of the "other guy" regardless.
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@taiwan_girl said in Steel Tarriff:
What do you want to bet that President Trump will come out with some statement AGAINST the tariffs on China? LOL
I'd be surprised...
@Jolly said in Steel Tarriff:
@taiwan_girl said in Steel Tarriff:
What do you want to bet that President Trump will come out with some statement AGAINST the tariffs on China? LOL
I'd be surprised...
Two words: Tik Tok.
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Whatever. He changed his tune 180 degrees.
Remember when he campaigned on negotiating drug prices (saying the government was a chump for not doing so) until he got rolled by the very first lobbyist that met with him after the election?
Do you remember how he was for wealth taxes before he was against them?
Do you remember him denying ever supporting the Iraq war even while the interviewer was playing clips of him giving his full throated support?
The guy has principles, but they all have to do with himself. Not policy.
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@Jolly said in Steel Tarriff:
Now, do Biden.
Exactly. That proves the point. Doesnt matter which side, your positions will change, often becuase you want to oppose the other side.
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@Jolly said in Steel Tarriff:
Now, do Biden.
Exactly. That proves the point. Doesnt matter which side, your positions will change, often becuase you want to oppose the other side.
@taiwan_girl said in Steel Tarriff:
@Jolly said in Steel Tarriff:
Now, do Biden.
Exactly. That proves the point. Doesnt matter which side, your positions will change, often becuase you want to oppose the other side.
Not always.
Positions change as situations change. As people change. As politics change.
Personally, I look at steel, pharmaceuticals, energy and computers as strategic resources to be protected if necessary.
“Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”
Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton
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@taiwan_girl said in Steel Tarriff:
@Jolly said in Steel Tarriff:
Now, do Biden.
Exactly. That proves the point. Doesnt matter which side, your positions will change, often becuase you want to oppose the other side.
Not always.
Positions change as situations change. As people change. As politics change.
Personally, I look at steel, pharmaceuticals, energy and computers as strategic resources to be protected if necessary.
@Jolly said in Steel Tarriff:
Positions change as situations change. As people change. As politics change.
Personally, I look at steel, pharmaceuticals, energy and computers as strategic resources to be protected if necessary.
Economic Nobel laureate Dr. Paul Krugman on Biden's new/enhanced tariffs on mainland China's imports:
Whatever the ideology or strategy behind China’s refusal to increase consumer spending, the only way out given that refusal is to run giant trade surpluses, dumping the stuff China produces but can’t or won’t consume in other countries’ markets.
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But what the Biden administration is basically saying is: No, you don’t get to do that. You’re too big a player in the world economy to dump the results of your policy failures in other countries’ laps.
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Why can’t the United States just accept cheap goods from China? The concerns about community disruption caused by the first China shock still apply. But there’s also a new issue: climate change. The goods being subjected to new or increased tariffs are mainly products associated with the transition to green energy; electric vehicles have been getting the most press, but giant batteries — which are now starting to play a crucial role in solving the problem of renewable energy intermittence (the sun doesn’t always shine, the wind doesn’t always blow) — are an even bigger deal.
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Why not just buy cheap Chinese batteries? Political economy. Given the existential threat posed by climate change, the political coalition behind the green energy transition shouldn’t be fragile, but it is. The Biden administration was able to get large subsidies for renewable energy only by tying those subsidies to the creation of domestic manufacturing jobs. If those subsidies are seen as creating jobs in China instead, our last, best hope of avoiding climate catastrophe will be lost — a consideration that easily outweighs all the usual arguments against tariffs.
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So in imposing these new tariffs, Biden’s people are doing what they must. I don’t see any alternative.
