Why Trump’s Trade War Will Work

Why Trump’s Trade War Will Work

The Trump administration in the USA has imposed large tariffs on steel and aluminum and Europe is going wild. The mass media is all aghast at this apparent affront to its’ European partners and claiming these tariffs will hurt Americans. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Most notable in reactions to the US imposed tariffs is the lack of China’s reaction. The simple reason is they will just export more to the EU and make a price war there. The EU and China are manufacturing an over abundance of these commodities. Too much product which causes price collapse.

The USA steel and aluminum workers cannot compete with these foreign manufacturers whose lower labor costs and automation that make it too cheap to compete so we lose jobs, the economy suffers, tax base suffers, and there is really little advantage to the ultimate buyer of finished goods.

Trump has claimed, and fake news has tried to debunk, these tariffs are needed above all for national security. The reality is our national security depends on the ability to defend ourselves, our nation, and giving up the ability to manufacture the machines, planes, tanks, ships and other war machines is a national security issue. Take that and realize that the biggest importer and user of steel and aluminum is the military industrial complex and you can start to understand the complicated status of trade.

In the end consumers, including the military industrial complex, will pay for this trade off. A can of beer may be one or two cents more but a battleship or submarine will cost millions more. Those millions more will go into labor and pay for many families in the USA to live, work, and thrive and that is the goal when you look at the broader picture.