Trump’s trade war is economic suicide
When President Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on steel imports last month, America’s largest nail manufacturer had little choice but to raise its prices. Mid Continent Nail Corporation quickly lost 50 percent of its orders as customers opted for cheaper suppliers. Within weeks, the firm had to lay off 60 workers. Up to 200 more might lose their jobs by the end of this month.
If the tariff isn’t lifted, the company could fold by September.
Mid Continent and its employees are early victims in Trump’s trade war. There will be many more if the president continues to raise import costs and anger our trading partners.
.. American consumers — not foreigners — will ultimately pay the bulk of the price for these trade obstructions. The economics are simple.Consider cars. Trump has long made clear that he wants Americans to pay higher prices for cars coming into the nation. On the campaign trail, he promised a tariff of 35 percent on “every car, every truck, and every part manufactured in Ford’s Mexico plant that comes across the border.” This past March, he threatened to impose tariffs on Europe’ automobile manufacturers.
But even cars produced domestically will rise in price thanks to the president’s economically illiterate trade interventions. As raw materials such as steel and aluminum rise in price, the cost of manufacturing each vehicle will rise. Manufacturers will pass those higher costs on to consumers.
Even beer and soda manufacturers are fretting about higher aluminum costs!