It is always steel – Trump customs duties provide a familiar commercial weapon

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Steel again. It is always steel. The near reason for Donald Trump’s decision Double steel and aluminum tariff On Wednesday morning to 50 percent – one of the few increases from which he did not withdraw – he was more likely to be angry at the Federal Court last week against the mutual (mutual “mutual” broad “(wrongly called).

But it is extremely fashionable for the United States – in fact for many governments – the sector protects from imports so that a steel tariff is a natural weapon to reach a trade challenge. With some justifications, the successive American administrations argued that excessive excessive global steel has worsened It will get worse Because of the effect of Chinese state benefits. But the United States has also offered a lot of poor protectionism to the industry, to the extent that Trump or not, America is not the country to fix it.

STEEL is a notorious subsidy and the protection of trade that is usually difficult to break for well -known reasons. Steel production has huge size economies that create high barriers in front of entry; Its product is required for cabinets, combat aircraft, as well as railways and bridges; Steel factories are often located in one -box cities where plants are closed with immediate political treatment. In the United States, many of the largest melting oven operations are located in the states of political swing and employment of workers in the well -connected unions.

These factors exceed the problem that, as industrial inputs, increases the price causes widespread damage to manufacturing. there 80 jobs in the estuary industries For each one in steel production.

Worse efforts to promote the international free free market in general have failed. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Establishing a steel committee In 1978 for member governments to consider global excessive ability, especially given the height of Japan as a product. I completed The meeting 97 in April With no permanent solution after finding it. High -levelGlobal Forum“Among the leading economies in the G20 over excessive steel capacity was similarly effective.

Funny protection. When the European Union recently announced plans to build defense and economic flexibility, the German steel industry was directly from the traps Claiming new pamphlets. But it is the American steel industry that has proven to be particularly innovative for contracts, especially in its use of “commercial therapy” tools such as duties to dumping and combating imports. It is not clear to say that the largest unilateral reason for the United States against the World Trade Organization is the World Trade Trade Settlement system repeatedly governs against a specific methodology known as “scratch” to calculate the duties of dumping that the American steel industry uses.

The definitions that Trump just have been imposed during his first term, according to the so -called legal ruling, “Section 232”. This procedure requires the administration – or at least confirmation – the necessity of national security, which failed to test laughter but has survived so far Local legal challenge. The Joe Biden administration maintained the duties in place, although their comment with the European Union and other commercial partners are awaiting the negotiations that did not emerge.

The Biden administration may have been less destroyed, but it was also very scary. He tried and failed to use customs tariffs as a financial lever to force the European Union to the so -called “global arrangement on steel and sustainable aluminum” that will become in China, a plan It is properly considered in Brussels Also traditional steel protection in a new curtain.

The new Trump tariff creates more mutilation and blackmail. Trump fixed the 25 percent steel definitions after his second term began, last month The UK gave an exemption. The vulnerability (which has not yet been implemented) led to a lot of joy in Britain, but the lack of distinctive details about what, regardless of some import classes on beef and biological meat, was given in return.

To be fair, the UK has somewhat better reasons for intervention to keep steel production from the United States, where The Ministry of Defense itself said It does not need to cover section 232 to maintain the local ability for strategic reasons. The UK reaches one oven plant that produces steel from raw, instead of smaller plants that recycle scrap by melting. Maintaining the factory in Scunthorpe is indefinitely open Unlikely To be an applicable option, but there is a real security problem for discussion.

This makes the United Kingdom vulnerable to coercion Trump. The tariff gaps that were negotiated (although they were not implemented yet) in a deal last month were conditional on the United Kingdom’s alignment with the United States for the safety of the supply chain for steel and aluminum, a clause clearly to China. It is still not clear how exactly how the Trump administration will use this financial lever given the new round of duties.

At the local level, it is relatively easy and popular imposing a steel tariff, and their political sensitivity abroad has a way to quickly forced commercial partners at the negotiating table. Trump’s commercial diseases are unique, but the fact that it routinely transmitted through solid protection is not a surprise at all.

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