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Trump's tariffs revive jobs in steel town


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2018 Jul 14, 10:08am   3,296 views  6 comments

by Patrick   ➕follow (55)   💰tip   ignore  

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-granite-city-us-steel-trump-tariffs-20180708-story.html

For more than 100 years, Granite City has defined itself as a hardworking mill town, a place where young people eager to cement a solid financial future without a college degree have to look no further than the dirt and iron and fire of the local steel plant, which stretches over 2 square miles. The opportunity afforded by the plant came to a halt at the end of 2015, when the plant idled production, laying off 2,000 people.

But the first blast furnace now has been restarted and U.S. Steel is filling 800 jobs at the mill, a result of the steep tariffs that President Donald Trump announced on imported steel and aluminum earlier this year. The Trump administration has in recent months imposed tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico and China and on Friday imposed tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese imports. That country responded by levying tariffs of its own on American-made goods.

The trade war has spurred an outcry from most U.S. businesses. In Granite City, though — which voted narrowly for Trump in the 2016 election — the tariffs are helping bring back well-paying steel jobs and lifting its economy.


There are good and bad aspects to tariffs. Other countries can charge more for US goods as well. The real question is whether the US can get a better deal than it had. Our owners were happy to give away US jobs because that helped to lower wages for our working class. All of this is really a fight of capital vs labor.

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1   Shaman   2018 Jul 14, 12:57pm  

TrumpingTits says
Export dependent China (but getting less so) and Germany are not in a good position to have a trade fight with us, in particular.


Yes, and this is shown by the merchandise China has chosen out for tariffs: agriculture. China knows that flyover country is Trump’s stronghold and they want to hurt his voters there to hurt his chances of cementing a firm ruling coalition in November. This would mean that he would face a possibly hostile Congress opposed to his trade negotiations and willing to do something about it. China wants this, as it would mean the weak stick Congress critters would cave to their demands and let China win the trade war. However, when November goes well for Trump and he picks up seats loyal to the MAGA agenda, China should cave immediately. They have no position and they know it. This is just psy-ops against our “ruling elite” fuckwad Ivy League graduates who think they know everything but know nothing about handling people.
2   Shaman   2018 Jul 14, 12:58pm  

In the meantime, have a big bowl of cherries! Or as I like to call them, Freedom Fruit!
Delicious, and good for the country!
3   Patrick   2018 Jul 14, 1:17pm  

I have to say China played the game admirably for decades now, getting US manufacturing knowledge transferred wholesale to themselves with enthusiastic help from our treasonous oligarchs who saw an opportunity to avoid paying US workers first-world wages and to avoid the costs of environmental regulation.

I suppose we are better off in a way, having exported our pollution along with our jobs.
4   mell   2018 Jul 14, 1:34pm  

Patrick says
I have to say China played the game admirably for decades now, getting US manufacturing knowledge transferred wholesale to themselves with enthusiastic help from our treasonous oligarchs who saw an opportunity to avoid paying US workers first-world wages and to avoid the costs of environmental regulation.

I suppose we are better off in a way, having exported our pollution along with our jobs.


That's the tricky part! Manufacturing is dearly necessary for a functioning solid working class and a cohesive society. However of course most manufacturing also produces pollution and waste, so the rich globalists are fine with exporting it all away to cheap labor countries, even if it means large unemployment amongst the working class. Some even argue that closing coal mines is for the workers own good! Isn't that crazy? Sure, work in general is not very healthy (unless you're a fitness trainer) but in the end people want to live a dignified life with a basic income to provide and support their family and be contributing members of society and their family and neighborhood tribes. The reason there is such a big chasm right now in the US (and many other Western countries) is that the globalist cultural marxists left and - to a lesser extent - the globalist right have basically told the working calls to fuck off and completely disregard their wants and desires. It's only logical the workers are flocking to Trump and will keep voting for him.
5   mell   2018 Jul 14, 2:10pm  

Tim Aurora says
mell says
even if it means large unemployment amongst the working class.


By the end of Obama administration the unemployment was really low


Not disputing that, but it went along with cutting rates to zero, wheres they started rising again under Trump yet he managed to lower UE with rising rates via organic tax cuts and many other measures (removing red tape etc.).

Tim Aurora says
mell says
in the end people want to live a dignified life with a basic income to provide and support their family and be contributing members of society and their family and neighborhood tribes.


You argue for capitalism and you argue for socialism. Can't have both ways


These are real legit jobs, not created by socialism. If you view the whole world as a single playground with a one world government, then you can make the case for tariffs being socialistic measures. If you accept a country and its borders as a business unit/entity then tariffs can totally make sense. Overall I think it depends on the situation whether I support them or not. I do agree though that tariffs generally are a no-no under a strict libertarian view.

In summary this clearly shows that Trump is neither far right nor Libertarian nor Left, he borrows from different concepts while running the country like a business.
6   FortWayne   2018 Jul 14, 4:22pm  

China has us by the balls. If they cut us off because they are buddies with Putin, we would be fucked

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