You have tunnel vision! You are blaming the collapse of the steel industry on tariffs alone. No mention of UNIONS! No mention of the basket full of Chinese tricks to undermine our industry, which were many and varied, not simply currency manipulation. China did to our steel industry exactly what Japan did to our plywood industry in the ‘50’s. The State of Washington thrived on its forestry and plywood industries. We wound up losing to Japan which bought our wood, shipped it to Japan, turned it into plywood, and shipped it back to the U.S., selling it for cheaper than we could manufacture it here.
You say history proves tariffs are bad. Please tell me what paid America’s bills during the early years and through the Civil War.
The Chinese justify their dumping by stating “it’s a lower quality product. Of course people should pay less for it!”
Perhaps the U.S. steel industry lost market share because management did not adopt new methods of production after WWII.