Free Republic

When President Trump announced he was slapping a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent toll on foreign aluminum, a friend asked me how the president could possibly possess such unilateral authority under our governmental system of checks and balances. That was my first thought, too, before surmising that our über-experienced Congress had again simply handed away its constitutional power, as is its habit, thoughtlessly — like motel matches. Writing in National Review, Jay Cost confirmed my suspicion: “Over the past 80 years, authority over tariffs, as well as over all manner of properly legislative functions,...

The New York Times reports that Christopher Liddell, former Microsoft and General Motors executive, and current White House official, is being considered to take over as President Trump's top economic adviser, following Gary Cohn's resignation. About Liddell: Per the Times, he "has worked closely with Jared Kushner," and has "the sort of experience" Trump is looking for, as having been the CFO for both Microsoft and General Motors. He helped GM bounce back after going bankrupt, the Times reports, and executed "the company's return to the public market."

MAPLE PARK, Ill. — Snow and sleet were falling on Eldon Gould’s 500 acres this week, but he was already looking ahead to planting season; depending on ground conditions and the temperature, that could be just several weeks away. But now the prospect of steel and aluminum tariffs was adding to the list of worries and uncertainties that come with every corn and soybean season. “It’s the retaliation risk,” Mr. Gould said from his kitchen table in Maple Park, in a region of northern Illinois where farmland runs on for miles. “The world’s already awash in grain,” Mr. Gould said,...

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday warned his US counterpart Donald Trump against forging ahead with planned tariffs on European steel and aluminium, saying it risked starting a mutually destructive “trade war”. In a telephone call with Trump, the French leader expressed his “deep concerns”, saying the tariffs due to come into effect in two weeks “risk triggering a trade war, in which all affected countries would be losers”, Macron’s office said. He also argued that “such measures against allied countries, who respect international trade rules, would not be effective in fighting unfair practices”, and said the European Union would...

The EU is set to hit a wide range of American products — ranging from yachts to peanut butter — with duties of 25 percent to retaliate against President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum. The products targeted, as shown in a list obtained by Politico, are chosen so as not to harm EU industries, which do not need these imports. Some targets clearly gun for politically sensitive Republican-run states. […] In agriculture, the EU will go after kidney beans, bourbon whiskey, rice, cranberries, orange juice, peanut butter, tobacco and cheroots. […] In the industrial sector, the...

Small manufacturers that fashion metal into parts for makers of cars, appliances and other products fear they could be the hardest hit by new tariffs on aluminum and steel. “I’m worried,” said Dave Arndt, chief executive of Pentaflex Inc. of Springfield, Ohio, whose products include components such as truck axles and exhaust systems. Steel accounts for 60% of his product costs, and customers could leave if he raises prices. “There’s a lot of risk.” Many of the smaller manufacturers at the heart of the American supply chain are firms few outside their industries or communities have ever heard of. They...

Donald Trump’s decision to impose steel and aluminum tariffs and the resignation of chief economic adviser Gary Cohn this week mark a dangerous moment in his Presidency. To wit, is this when an Administration that has pursued surprisingly sensible economic policies veers into the Herbert Hoover ditch? We use the Hoover comparison advisedly because he was the last Republican President who embraced tariffs as sound economic policy. George W. Bush imposed steel tariffs in 2002 but at least he did so in the name of getting trade-promotion authority through Congress. He put an initial time limit of three years and...

Revisiting Bastiat’s parable. As president of the most powerful country in the world — and a man with the utmost confidence in his own judgment — would Donald Trump dare to tell the Sun, that fiery ball at the center of our solar system, “You’re fired!” It seems so, if we take him at his recently tweeted word (“Trade wars are good, and easy to win”) and take the liberty of injecting him into the center of the argument found in the “Candle Maker’s Petition,” a satire of protectionist tariffs written by the great French economist, Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850).

President Trump is the most masterful negotiating presence in the White House of not just the modern era, but in American history.You free-trade establishment types need to pipe down, listen up, and learn a thing or two.In the president’s brief statement Thursday in the signing of the tariff declaration, Trump let slip a few things that not only the media immediately began to ignore, but simultaneously demonstrated his mastery of the issues in far greater depth than many of the wall street wonks who spent the last two weeks denouncing his tariff policy (which until today had not been...

As for trade, China has taken advantage of the WTO to push mercantilist policies. It uses non-tariff barriers and industrial policy the WTO wasn’t built to address to maximize exports and minimize imports. President Trump’s prospective tariffs on steel and aluminum have put renewed focus on China trade, although the tariffs, at least as announced by Trump, are a comically inept misfire if their true target is China. The rubric for the levies could be: “How to lose a trade war with China in one easy step.” A better approach begins with acknowledging that China is unique, and a unique...

Last week, President Trump's announced sweeping tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the United States: 25 percent on American buyers of imported steel-mill products and 10 percent on American buyers of imported aluminum-mill products. Trump has favored strong tariffs for years, and some of his most prominent economic advisors are supplying him with arguments in service of his policy. Those arguments are all wrong. Here are the facts about some of the favorite arguments made by protectionists. For the sake of simplification, I will mostly focus on the steel tariffs. Argument 1: Trump's tariffs are necessary because our...

This week, the President slapped tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to enhance domestic steel production, to the dismay of liberal economists and journalists who don’t understand history and common sense. Here at this editorial we are unabashedly pro-tariff, not only because they work, but because without them we lose control of important aspects of our economy and of our society as a whole. Needless to say, we believe these steel tariffs is welcomed news. Aside from the tariffs though, President Trump has also now asked China to reduce their trade deficit with the United States by 100 billion dollars...

Donald Trump's announcement that he is imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from other countries has aroused little enthusiasm and much criticism. It evidently prompted the resignation of Gary Cohn as head of his National Economic Council. It has also prompted free trade-minded Republicans in Congress to propose repealing Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which delegates to the president the power to adjust trade restrictions and impose tariffs. It's not clear exactly what trade restrictions Trump is poised to impose or whether negotiations with Mexico and Canada will end the North American Free Trade...

Trump's tariffs are a bad idea. President Donald Trump deserves applause for boosting the prospects for this country’s forgotten manufacturing workers, particularly in the steel and aluminum industries. Democrats lately have neglected these Americans. Hillary Clinton barely campaigned among them in Michigan during the 2016 general election, and she thoroughly ignored them in Wisconsin. Alas, President Trump is doing this all wrong. He likely will hurt the very middle class that he has championed since his escalator ride onto the political stage. Trump aims to protect U.S. metal makers with new taxes of 25 percent on foreign steel and 10...

Europe’s top monetary official criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to put tariffs on steel and aluminum imports as a “dangerous” unilateral move. Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, said that the “immediate spillover of the trade measures … is not going to be big.” But he said such disputes should be worked out among trade partners, not decided by measures initiated from one side. “Whatever convictions one has about trade … we are convinced that disputes should be discussed and resolved in a multilateral framework, that unilateral decisions are dangerous.” “There is a certain worry or...

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said on Thursday that he will introduce legislation to nix President Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum imports just minutes after they were announced. "I will immediately draft and introduce legislation to nullify these tariffs, and I urge my colleagues to pass it before this exercise in protectionism inflicts any more damage on the economy," Flake said in a statement. Trump announced that he would levy the penalties — a 25 percent tariff for steel and 10 percent on aluminum — during a White House event. Canada and Mexico are exempted amid larger trade negotiations, Trump...

Former CIA chief John Brennan made a rare appearance on Twitter Wednesday to lash out at President Donald Trump over “ignorance” that threatens U.S. prosperity. The commander in chief’s recent talk of possible steel and aluminum tariffs prompted a social-media jab by Mr. Brennan this week. The post — 1 of 18 total tweets, with the vast majority related to Mr. Trump or the U.S. Russia probe — questioned the president’s economic acumen. “You show an amazing albeit unsurprising ignorance of how technology, automation, and the attendant evolution of economics and societies have transformed the world,” Mr. Brennan, who served...

Full Trump speech.

March 8 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump on Thursday, joined by steel and aluminum workers at the White House, imposed his promised industrial tariffs -- 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on foreign-made aluminum. Trump signed the tariff proclamations Thursday afternoon in a meeting with industry workers and officials -- ushering in fiscal penalties that have drawn ire from world leaders and sparked fears of a possible trade war. "A nation that does not protect property at home cannot protect its property abroad," Trump said. The White House said Canada and Mexico will initially be excluded from the...

In a surprising turn of events, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has taken to social media to make a case for President Trumps recently proposed tariffs. President Trump published a tweet yesterday stating that China was asked to develop a yearly plan for the One Billion Dollar reduction in their trade deficit with the United States. President Trump was well received during his visit to China earlier this year and notes this by saying that U.S. relations with China are very good and that he looked forward to seeing what ideas they came up with. But, President Trump urged that the...