Posted on 04/07/2018 10:50:57 AM PDT by Kaslin
In 2017, America’s oil and gas industry spent $8.5 billion just on the steel pipe used in 11,300 wells to frack shale and drill conventional formations. That same steel would have cost $2 billion more, if these 25% tariffs had been in place, the AOPL explains. Similarly, a “typical” 280-mile pipeline would cost $75 million more, a “major” (Keystone XL) pipeline some $300 million more, under these tariffs.
China has already slapped tariffs on US soybeans, and recently signaled that it can add to these oil patch woes bydirectly targeting shale country products, such as petrochemicals and liquefied propane. The Chinese meanwhile use spies and hackers to steal US corporate, military and government information, and demand access to patents and trade secrets as a price for granting access to huge Chinese markets.
Ironically, two of the main beneficiaries of these tariffs and trade wars could be Russia and OPEC, who would see their own exports and revenues climb in response to declining US oil and gas production. The primary source ofexport revenues for the Russian economy is oil and natural gas, and many European countries get 50-100% of their natural gas from Russia. That leaves them vulnerable to Putin threats of pipeline closures – and less willing to challenge Putin in Syria, the Crimea, Ukraine and elsewhere.
That also resurrects the links between anti-fossil-fuel US environmental groups that have received funds laundered via theSea Change Foundation and other intermediaries, from Russian energy oligarchs with strong ties to Putin. Perhaps Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller should investigatethat Russian collusion.
(Oil and gas companies can always submit a tariff exemption request to the Commerce Department, if a product is not readily available from American manufacturers or is needed for national security reasons. But separate requests must be made for each product; they take months to process and are valid for only one year; and American aluminum and steel makers can object to the request, dragging the process out.)
In essence, these tariffs might save a few hundred steel and aluminum manufacturing jobs. But they put thousands of US workers out of work in other industries that depend on affordable steel products as their basic raw materials. The tariffs also put dozens of projects on hold or out of reach.
In another irony, many of President Trump’s much desired and ballyhooed infrastructure construction and repair projects could become the victim of soaring steel prices, on top of 1931 Davis-Bacon Act rules that local prevailing union wages must be paid on public works projects. Still more people will then be injured and killed, due to dangerous road and bridge conditions that poorly thought out policies perpetuate.
Tariffs on foreign metals also persuade US steel and aluminum companies that they can raise prices, while still undercutting foreign competitors. That’s whyAmerican Keg– the last US manufacturer of stainless steel beer kegs, and a patriotic user of only domestic steel – had to lay off a third of its workers.
Environmentalists oppose mining in the United States. They oppose coal and natural gas as fuels, and the rail and pipe lines to get those fuels to power plants, foundries and factories. They are OK with the Trump tariffs, since they help stymie fossil fuel projects. But radical greens fail to recognize that wind turbines also require massive amounts of specialty steel for rebar, turbine and transmission towers, generators and other components – making them and their high-cost electricity even less affordable and justifiable.
The United States clearly cannot merely present diplomatic protests, while letting other countries engage in unfair trade practices, and worse. However, the politicians whose actions affect our lives in so many ways must do a far better job examining the nature and scope of the unintended consequences of their decisions. Mileage standards, trade wars and tariffs tend to get out of control, and innocent people suffer.
Meanwhile, the brinksmanship continues. Can’t the White House and Congress find better answers?
Spies...are you kidding? They had the Clintons.
>>Spies...are you kidding? They had the Clintons.
Yep. Spies.
They sure did
>>In essence, these tariffs might save a few hundred steel and aluminum manufacturing jobs.
Focus, Globalist Author, the reason for this negotiation is not tariffs. It is fair trade.
Oh, now I get it. Fair trade isn’t the “free” trade that the author pines for.
A steel tariff would cost a LOT less to the oil companies than years and years of delays and lawsuits before any more pipelines can be built or maintained.
This is a load of cr*p.
China has been selling steel, aluminum, and a great many other things into the US market at or below production cost for decades. All the Free Traitors pretend the US has no national security issues in these trade realities when undercutting and destroying US industry is an integral part of Chinese military strategy, not just Chinese industrial strategy.
Wasn’t Townhall, pretty much Never Trump, across the board?
Spies....Clinton gave them the GPS technology. Not sure if we still do, but at one point replacement parts for our military aircraft was coming from China.
Everything china makes, sucks. For any in the building world, first they produced inferior PVC that destroyed homes. Then they made substandard sheetrock, to the point that it had to be ordered 6 or months in advance of a home being built.
I didn’t read the article, but there are lots of people saying how disastrous the “trade war” & tariffs will be. One, I don’t know that any of them have been or are, in any business other than being writers or reporters, talking about what other people do. Two, I wish one of them, while telling us that the world will come to an end, will tell us how we can stop getting our asses handed to us by China.
In this case, I’m on the team with a roster of, President Trump, Wilbur Ross, Lighthizer, Navarro.
The other team of John Stossel, the Chamber of Commerce and the rest can SUCK IT.
Such poor reporting...the Keystone Pipeline is a $5.2 billion project, so the pipe cost would have been an extra 5%, which amortized over the lifespan of this type of capital project is trivial.
Being a free and independent nation is not always free.
Good point.
The US can’t run trade deficits in the hundreds of billions of dollars forever.
The US can’t run budget deficits in the hundreds of billions of dollars forever to supply the money to support those trade deficits.
US steel producers must supply PPACA health care benefits to their workers, as required by federal law. Obamacare PPACA health care benefits are the most costly in the world. Some sort of tariff is needed to allow US producers to compete.
From my 2016 plan:
7. IRON and STEEL
There shall be a duty equal to the last released official US household unemployment rate [~5 to sometimes 12%] on:
a. raw iron and steel
b. predominately ferrous alloys
c. ferrous ingots and equivalents
d. basic rolled/extruded ferrous items
e. the ultimate ferrous value of other predominately by weight ferrous metal items
To discourage dumping of:
a. raw iron and steel
b. predominately ferrous alloys
c. ferrous ingots and equivalents
d. basic rolled/extruded ferrous items
a globally assignable, auctionable warrant good for a period of five years for an equal amount of the same items imported at the import price plus 10% plus 3% per year in dollars FOB from the maker(s) shall be provided to USCIS at the time of importation.
Auction proceeds of the warrants shall be used to fund USCIS operations.
Items that have historically been given catalog descriptions, listed on price sheets or considered stock items shall be considered basic.
There shall be no duty or warrant requirement on ores.
plan reposted at:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3645143/posts
Note that under my plan, the tariffs would be 5%.
Since about 25% total tax would be paid by steel companies and workers, US taxpayers and consumers would come out ahead (25%-5% = 20%) after all is said and done, including paying higher steel and oil prices.
If there were still justice in the U.S., many Demonicrat and RINOcrat politicians, following their trial and conviction, would experience their own unintended consequences of a short drop and quick stop for giving aid and comfort to the enemy.
Cheap pipe and say 3 million more Americans unemployed has it's costs to. Only those costs get bucked to the tax payer for food stamps, housing, medicaid, and social ills. And the grocery stores, car dealers, and malls feel it too.
When someone drilling wells wants to buy Chinese state subsidized steel dumped at below market costs, that discount is not "free".
The only consequence that career lawmakers are concerned about imo is how to stay in power.
In ref to your comment: “Everything china makes, sucks. For any in the building world, first they produced inferior PVC that destroyed homes. Then they made substandard sheetrock, to the point that it had to be ordered 6 or months in advance of a home being built.”
Let’s not forget all the medicines/supplements that were ‘sheetrock’ instead of medicine, that came from China.
Then there was the poison dog food, and don’t forget the whole wheat flour brew, that bakeries were using to make that unhealthy bread!
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/jul/05/china.internationalnews1
China accounts for less than 3% of US steel imports. Biggest exporters are Canada and Trump excluded Canada from the tarrifs.
When the decisions being made as to what technology the Chinese could have were switched by Bill Clinton from the Dept of Defense to the Commerce Department ... and no fuss was raised ... there could only be one ending.
Schlicter (sp) is also an up and coming journalist on the right side of history. What is your problem with John Stossel?
I think Schlicter is about the only one, that I can think of that hasn’t been a Never Trump guy, like the others. And he writes some absolutely amazing articles.
As for Stossel...I follow his FB feed. I’ve read his books and I’ve watched his shows. Agree with him, pretty much, all the time. But, this thing with the tariffs/trade war, he’s completely against it. Which, he can be. He’s a Libertarian in every sense of the word, IMHO. But, at some point, someone has to say, Enough. We’ve been getting our asses handed to us, for decades by the cheap labor and theft, from the Chinese. On top of them being given everything but the kitchen sink, by the Clinton’s. Stossel’s free market approach to everything ain’t working with the Chinese, never has, never will. Because they don’t play by the same set of rules. Which, from what I gather, is precisely what the President is trying to do, make it so we’re all playing by the same rules and everyone can get into each other’s markets. If tariff’s, or the threat of them, is what it takes, I’m on Team Trump.
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