U.S. Tariffs Had No Major Impacts on Economy

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The recent study report published by the Economic Policy Institute stated that U.S tariffs on steel and aluminum has not hurt the economy or resulted in severe job losses. The study noted that there was no evidence of broad, negative impacts on the economy due to hefty steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by the Trump administration against foreign countries.

Ever since the announcement of 10% tariffs on aluminum products in March this year, three smelters have restarted operations. Furthermore, one smelter has announced significant capacity expansion. The U.S aluminum companies have created around 300 new jobs during this period. Also, the industry attracted approximately $3.3 billion in fresh investments, which in turn is expected to create at least 2,000 new jobs. As per labor Department official data, the overall U.S. manufacturing sector added more than 200,000 jobs since the implementation of tariffs, the report said.

The latest government data indicates that aluminum tariffs increased by $124 million in October 2018, when compared with the previous year.

However, critics highlighted that China continues to subsidize its aluminum industry, despite tariffs. According to them, the massive Chinese excess capacity is the main problem faced by the industry. The recent structure of tariffs has clearly failed to address this grave issue. The blanket tariff approach needs to be re-looked, they said.