[harpseal]

We don't. We buy DOMESTIC STEEL.

If you bought domestic steel at the market price then the tariffs did not hurt you. If you buying domestic steel at a price depressed by imports then you were getting an advantage from teh harm others inflicted on the US economy. If theprice went up becuase of tariffs then you are merely complaining about the market. I have no problem with your purchasing domestic steel and I have no problem with a free market in the USA for American products if the free market in the uSA has prices lower than the market would normally set becuase of imports then we need tariffs and one should not presume there is harm in them.

I agree it is good your company employs Americans. However your initial post implied some harm from teh steel tariffs I submit the only harm was they did not also cobver components made of steel and finished goods made of steel.

[BMiles2112]

I think your argument has a perfect contradiction. A government subsidy on an export is the exact opposite of a tariff on an imported product. It's the gov't altering the "market" rate of a product to make the US product more favorable. Read the following.

If you buying domestic steel at a price depressed by imports then you were getting an advantage from teh harm others inflicted on the US economy.
Compare this with, If theprice went up becuase of tariffs then you are merely complaining about the market.
In summary, if the price is less than what US steel producers would like to charge, it is considered "depressed" by subsidized imports. On the other hand, if we slap a tariff on imported goods (which drives the price above what the US producers currently can afford to charge) , you would call the new price the "market at work", not "inflated".

You can't have it both ways. Either you consider the gov't interference part of the economy consistently or you don't at all. Unfortunately, you have to consider it. It swallows up a huge part of our economy, and it is what makes us uncompetitive in many markets. If a foreign nation subsidized an export, it hurts that industry here, but reduces the cost of the product for the consumers here. If we put a tariff on an import, it helps that industry here, but hurts the consumers here.

I understand the nat'l defense angle, and I agree with you on that, but in a strictly economic sense, tariffs can and do hurt our economy, though I do prefer that form of taxation over the ones currently in place, which do far more harm.

Thanks for the fight, I've got to go home now and pretend like I did some real work today.