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Waging a Trade War That No One Supports

The only one that seems likely to benefit from this quarreling among allies is China while we hurt each other for no reason.
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One of the more remarkable things about Trump’s steel and aluminum tariff increases is that the industries that are supposed to benefit from them are opposed to them:

A number of U.S. metals companies are dismayed by the administration’s steel and aluminum tariffs and are pushing back against them ahead of the summit.

Steve Fisher, chief executive of Atlanta aluminum giant Novelis, met in Washington on Tuesday with industry officials from around the world to discuss their shared concerns about the tariffs’ impacts on the aluminum supply chain.

“We don’t agree with the imposed tariffs on aluminum imports into the U.S., especially against strong partners such as Canada, Mexico and the European Union,” he said in an interview.

Mr. Fisher said the primary problem facing the aluminum industry “is overcapacity sitting in China,” which is depressing prices for the metal, rather than competition from the EU and elsewhere.

Last week, the United Steelworkers union expressed its opposition to imposing tariffs on Canadian steel, and they insisted that Canada remain exempt from the tariffs. If the metal companies and labor unions in these industries don’t support these measures, why should anyone else?

Everyone understands that China is the party responsible for driving down the prices of these metals, but the administration’s supposed “remedy” to the problem does not address the real cause. Instead, the administration is picking a fight with many of our major trading partners and allies whose cooperation the U.S. needs against China. The only one that seems likely to benefit from this quarreling among allies is China while we hurt each other for no reason.

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