FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump holds a meeting on his infrastructure initiative at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 12, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Trump displayed his lack of knowledge about trade by proclaiming a trade war easy to win, as he has tanked the stock market, and the US economy prepares to feel the pain.
Trump tweeted:
MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle explained how Trump’s trade war hurts the economy:
Ruhle said, “So does this help America? That’s debatable. It helps some American companies. Specifically, steel and aluminum manufacturers. But it hurts American companies that use steel and aluminum. Relying on cheaper imported metal to make everything from cars to beer cans. It hurts American consumers that may have to pay more for those items if the cost of raw materials goes up. It hurts those countries that send their steel and aluminum to the United States. Now, tariffs might make more sense if they specifically targeted a country with unfair trade policies like China, which is what President Trump wants to do. But here’s the thing, that’s not happening. These tariffs hit all countries. In fact, the top exporter of steel to the United States is our partner, our neighbor, our ally, Canada. The next three are Brazil, South Korea, and Mexico. All U.S. Allies. Russia is number 5. But China’s not even in the top ten. The fear now is that some of these countries may retaliate by imposing tariffs on American products being shipped overseas. And this is what we mean by trade war.”
Trade wars are always bad ideas. A trade war always raises prices and harms consumers. Trade wars also kill jobs, because if the price of materials goes up, so do employer costs. When employer costs get too high, workers get laid off. Trump is destroying people’s retirement accounts, raising prices, and risking jobs all with one incredibly stupid move. The tariff on aluminum and steel isn’t a trade policy. It is an irrational tantrum that will reverberate throughout the US economy, and harm the very people who are living paycheck to paycheck that Trump claims to be protecting.
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