President Trump imposed a 25 percent ad valorem tariff on steel. When questioned whether the tariffs were permanent, President Trump’s Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing, Peter Navarro, responded that the tariffs are “permanent because the problem is permanent.”
Navarro is right. America’s steel industry has been brutalized for 50 years by unfair trade with the Third World.
Consider that in 1945, America produced 72 percent of the world’s steel. Now, we produce just 4.2 percent. To make matters worse, America cannot produce enough steel to meet our own demand. Last year, we consumed roughly 100 million metric tons while producing just 80 million metric tons.
Without steel imports, America’s economy would be crippled, and our ability to win a major war would be jeopardized. Therefore, the ability to produce steel is both an economic and national security problem. Permanent tariffs are an elegant solution to both problems.
Tariffs are Forever
We will begin by answering the following basic questions: What are tariffs, how do tariffs work, and why must tariffs be permanent? […]
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