On March 1, 2018, Trump heralded his intent to safeguard America’s steel and aluminum.
One year after President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would issue a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum imports in response to an investigation into the national security threat posed by steel and aluminum dumping, the positive impacts of the Section 232 trade action continue to bloom.
Remember that before this, steel and aluminum workers grappled with a market flooded with cheap steel and aluminum, largely from China, which produced nearly as much steel in a month as the U.S. did in a year.
For the steel and aluminum workers who attended Trump’s signing of the Section 232 tariff proclamation on March 8, 2018, the event signaled the opening of a new, hopeful chapter for them and their peers.
But these men and women are not alone in their relief, workers nationwide have seen the benefits of the steel and aluminum industries’ renewed vigor. Just take a look at the most recent mill restarts in Lone Star, Texas, and Fairfield, Ala., or other manufacturers stimulated by increased operations in America’s steel and aluminum mills. Indeed, the U.S. manufacturing industry is finding renewed strength, and more Americans are back at work.
The revival Alliance for American Manufacturing President Scott Paul forecast on March 8 last year is continuing.
Said Paul on March 8, 2018:
"Steel and aluminum workers are already being hired back, and as the result of stronger industries we believe these will be the first of many new jobs created in America’s manufacturing communities. … We expect these tariffs to lay the groundwork for a stronger economy and industrial base."
However, just as steel and aluminum mills are stabilizing, some in Congress are trying to limit the powers of Section 232, a trade tool vital to our nation’s ability to defend industries critical to national security.
Tell Congress now’s not the time to undermine America’s trade tools.