Recently, President Trump raised the idea of U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum. Immediately, the establishment pushed back against the idea warning of retribution by the target countries of such tariffs.  Perhaps Europe will raise tariffs against American agricultural products.  Maybe Harley-Davison (Speaker of the House) and bourbon (Majority Leader of the Senate) will face barriers.  What will China do to the United States?

I generally believe in free trade.  But the United States does not enjoy many partners in free trade.  South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China, European Community, and most of the rest of the world raise barriers to American exports.  Taken in its entirety, the United States has an $800 billion annual trade deficit, according to President Trump.  It doesn’t make sense that other countries with whom we trade will risk “killing the goose that lays the golden egg.”  We are that goose. 

It’s possible that the president is exerting pressure on Mexico and Canada to agree to a better NAFTA agreement in order to forestall tariffs.  It’s possible that the president’s target is also the European Community, China, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan.  He may be signaling in general that the United States will no longer be a generous or foolish patsy in trade matters.

The president stated that he would impose tariffs to save the steel and aluminum industries.  Certainly, those two industries are a fraction of what they once were.  Drive through Gary, Toledo, and parts of Detroit or Pittsburgh if you doubt the existence of the rust belt.  I haven’t heard any member of the free trade establishment propose how the United States can keep the steel and aluminum industries alive in this country.  To my mind, this short discussion has come full circle after traversing the ideology of free trade back to the original question of steel and aluminum.  Unless we protect those industries, we’ll soon all be working in a service industry.  If it ever happens that China, for instance, becomes so powerful that it could hinder steel products from entering the United States, I hope that the Chinese develop a taste for American junk food, because that will be one of the few manufactured products we’ll offer for export.

As a veteran, I fear the demise of America’s steel and aluminum industries because of the potential effect on our armed forces.  Imagine no American steel for ships, tanks, howitzers, ordnance, or trucks.  Imagine no American aluminum for aircraft.

Michael Waldron

Niles