In a Pennsylvania Steel Town, Donald Trumps Tariff Is a Winner

[question everything]

BRADDOCK, Pa.— Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports have many economists and lawmakers worried about a coming trade war. But workers and others in this community, where steel has been made for well over a century, see a chance for more jobs and bigger paychecks.

Many details of the plan to levy a 25% tariff on steel imports and a 10% tariff on aluminum imports have yet to be announced. But steel-industry experts, union officials and workers in mills generally believe the trade protections would give a big lift to the domestic steel industry. American auto and appliance makers, meanwhile, warn the tariffs could increase their costs as well as prices for consumers.

(snip)

David Burritt, U.S. Steel’s CEO, hasn’t said what the company would do after the tariffs take effect. A company spokeswoman referred to remarks Mr. Burritt made at the White House on Thursday, in which he agreed that so-called dumping—overseas companies selling steel at a below-market-rate price or sometimes below the cost of production in the U.S.—was killing jobs.

In recent years, U.S. Steel has idled operations in Lorain, Ohio, and Granite City, Ill., and experts said those plants could be among the first to come back online once tariffs take effect. Union officials also hope that some jobs could be added at the Edgar Thomson plant or other facilities in the Mon Valley, a former steelmaking powerhouse that was decimated by bankruptcies as far back as the 1980s.

(snip)

Braddock has been hanging on, while many other steel towns outside Pittsburgh saw jobs disappear completely. Still, its population is just 2,100, down from a peak of about 20,000 in the 1920s.

(snip)

But many steel-industry backers remain optimistic and said companies with new or planned steel mills in the South and other states that are nonunion could also benefit. “It provides breathing space for companies and workers who feel they’re teetering on the edge,” said Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a partnership between manufacturing companies and the steelworkers union.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-a-pennsylvania-steel-town-donald-trumps-tariff-is-a-winner-1520078400

[OhNo-Really]

1. Duped again. 😥

[duforsure]

2. They'll learn the hard way.

[irisblue]

3. Paywall blocked. Any place to read the whole article?

[question everything]

5. This is most of it

the parts that are snipped are comments by individuals.

Trying to keep with the copyright rules here, but I can PM you the total.

[question everything]

6. More

Beside empty storefronts, there are signs of rebirth in several restaurants, including Superior Motors, which has a rooftop greenhouse and apiary on the site. At Peppers N’ At, which has been offering pierogies and 22 beers on tap for nearly a year and a half, owner Bob Portogallo said plant workers are among his best customers.

He said of the tariffs: “I don’t have any opinion, except if it’s good for the mill and the guys, it’s good for us.” The plant employs about 600 workers, down from a peak of more than 2,000.

John Gornall, 40, a third-generation steelworker who followed his father into the Edgar Thomson plant, said he voted for Mr. Trump partly because of his promise to steelworkers.

“I felt that Trump gave us a better chance,” said Mr. Gornall, who said he voted twice for President Barack Obama. He earns between $70,000 and $80,000 a year, including overtime.

Some steel-industry analysts cautioned that tariffs could end up hurting steelmakers, for example if higher prices cause their customers to buy steel elsewhere. And they said much uncertainty remains.

“Who would want to build a steel mill not knowing who is going to be president in three years when the steel mill is finished?” said Charles Bradford, a steel analyst in New York.

[Phoenix61]

4. How long do you think it will take for

them to start whining "everything is so much more expensive"

[irisblue]

7. I suppose the NYT editors will have reporters out soon

Telling us about the economic fears of steel workers...

[C_U_L8R]

8. Just wait

when they see the surtax on their can of tunafish... and they still don't have any more work.

[Orange Free State]

9. The steel tariff and the timing of it

is probably a Trumpian Hail Mary attempt to win the Pa-18 special election. Some see it as a dead heat now, and the election is coming up in a few days.

[maxrandb]

10. Great! Our 548th story

About Donnie Short Fingers voters in Dumbfuckistan 'Murika.

Can't wait for the focus group of Clem, Cletus and Mable telling the rest of us how much they just love them some shitgibbon... between spitting tobacco juice in the spittoon of course

[onethatcares]

11. what they don't realize is

it wasn't like the Chinese or other countries came to the states and stole the factories or jobs. The corporate titans decided they didn't want unions, pensions, decent wages and a growing middle class so the titans moved the plants overseas.

Some days I'm only amazed at the stupidity. Other days I feel like jumping.

[Takket]

12. the whole industry will collapse when people decide to put off buying steel products

or starting commercial/industrial construction because the steel cost just blew their budget out of the water. They will put plans on hold and keep what they have for a few more years until a new government can fix this shit.

[jpak]

13. Braddock's Defeat

look it up