Trump's 2018 Steel Tariffs Cost US Consumers, Companies

When President Trump imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports in his first term, he said they were necessary to increase US production. But production was on the rise at the time. The real reason the industry wanted the tariffs was that higher prices on imports would let US companies raise their own prices, a Wall Street Journal editorial says. That happened. "The price was paid by US secondary metal producers and downstream manufacturers," the Journal says, as well as consumers and workers. Trump has done the same thing in his return to office.

After the steel tariffs took effect, sales at Mid-Continent Steel and Wire fell by more than 50%, the Journal says, prompting 80 layoffs. Another 120 workers quit over fears the plant would shut. Ford Motor Co. said tariffs took $750 million off its bottom line in 2018; that cut workers' profit-sharing bonuses by $750 each. GM reported the tariffs cost it $1 billion in profit, enough to pay more than 10,000 employees. Trump's move is all the more grating now because steel prices are about 50% higher than they were before the pandemic. The Journal provides more evidence that Trump's tariff policy "benefits the few at the expense of the many." The editorial can be found here. (More opinion stories.)