voda schreef op 28 juni 2017 16:43:
Trump administration's steel protections won't help US industry or security
US News reported that by any objective measure, imported steel is not a threat to US national security. Between domestic production and friendly foreign suppliers, the US military has access to all the steel it needs to maintain our national defense. National defense and homeland security combined required only 3% of steel shipments in the United States in 2015, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. A similar Section 232 investigation in 2001 came to the commonsense conclusion that steel imports did not threaten US national security or "fundamentally threaten the ability of domestic producers to satisfy national security requirements."
Imposing tariffs on imported steel would actually weaken America's industrial base. That's because a lot more US manufacturing companies consume steel as an input than make steel. While the steel industry itself directly employs about 140,000 American workers, steel consuming industries employ several million.
Steel tariffs would also jeopardize US exports. If the United States wraps itself in the national security flag to justify protecting a politically connected industry, other nations will do the same. Tariffs will go up against key American exports, from computers to soybeans, disrupting even more US jobs.
Protection would not even be good for the steel industry in the long run. Protected industries tend be lazy about innovation and customer service because they are shielded from normal market competition think the US Postal Service. A protected domestic market will render the US steel industry less able to face global competition in the future. It will spur domestic users to seek alternatives to steel, further reducing long-term demand.
What is good for the US steel industry is not necessarily good for America as a nation. In fact, protecting the steel industry from foreign competition will allow steel companies and their unions to benefit at the expense of their fellow Americans, leaving our nation less prosperous and less secure.
Source : US News