Trump’s Tariffs Haven’t Rescued American Steel
The president’s industrial policy mainly amounts to picking losers, which is not a recipe for success.
Man of steel.
Photographer: Whitney Curtis/Getty ImagesIt’s been almost two years since President Donald Trump announced, on March 1, 2018, that he would be imposing a 25% tariff on steel imports to the U.S. and 10% on aluminum. “We must not let our country, companies and workers be taken advantage of any longer,” he tweeted at the time.
The tariffs exempted a few countries to start, and were rolled back last May for products from Canada and Mexico, but otherwise still stand. Things have gone pretty well for the country in the meantime. For companies and workers in the U.S. steel and aluminum industries, not so much. U.S. Steel Corp.’s share price, for example, closed at its highest level in almost seven years on the day the tariffs were announced. It has since declined 80%.