Steel and Tariffs

2277 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Effects of the steel tariff on US economy

Steel and Tariffs

We have all heard this joke. Only now the horse has been replaced with consumers of steel in the US steel industry. Why? Many companies in our economy that use steel as an input to produce their goods are staggering due to recent extraordinarily high steel prices. President Bush dropped a tariff on imported steel on Thursday March 4th; according to basic economics, this cancellation of the steel import tariff should have dropped the price for US domestic consumers. Unfortunately though, that hasn't happened. Steel prices are currently at record highs and many forecast even higher prices to come. This puts huge pressure on small businesses that are dependent on steel for their well being. With higher prices threatening these business owners’ profits and future sales all, including the very large companies, are looking for any break in the high priced storm that seems to be closing in on the future of the steel industry. While many companies are sending out fair warning that consumers can expect higher prices in the car, furniture, and construction industries, many look for ways to cut costs and layoffs have been mentioned. Could this have been avoided? Many look to the recent lifting of tariffs imposed on steel imports as a possible culprit. Although the lifting of the tariff has affected the market, it is unlikely that the lifting correlates with the recent spike in steel prices. With the United Steel Workers of America screaming that the dropped import tariffs are, "clear evidence of capitulating to European blackmail and a sorry betrayal of American steelworkers and their communities," (Crutsinger 1) and representatives in congress showing much disgust at the presidents lack of respect and compassion for o...

... middle of paper ...

...k, John. "US Steelmakers in Continuing Crisis." Challenge.Vol. 47, no. 1, January/February. M. E. Sharp, INC. 2004. 86-106.

Crutsinger, Martin. "Bush drops steel import tariffs, accused of 'betrayal' by industry"The Game Cock. 04/05/04. <http://www.dailygamecock.com/news/2003/12/05/News/BushDrops.Steel.Impot.Tarif.Accused.Of.betrayal.By.Industry-573188.shtml>

Goodrich, Ben. Hufbauer, Gary Clyde. "Steel Policy: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly." Internationas Economics Policy Briefs. January 2003.

---. "Time for a Grand Bargin in Steel?" Institute for International Economics. 04/05/04. <http://www.iie.com/publications/pb/pb02-1.htm>.

Hagenbaugh, Barbara. "Steel Prices Soar 66% in a World Market 'gone mad'." USA Today. McLean, VA. Feb 20, 2004. pg B.01

Irwin, Douglas A. Free Trade Under Fire. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press 2002.

Show More
Related

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of John F. Kennedy's Steel Corporations Fordy

    1249 Words  | 3 Pages

    Steel Corporations Forge Tyranny The 1960s marked a time of great change, turmoil, and innovation in American history. President John F. Kennedy worked hard to ensure the best for the citizens of the United States and that is why, when steel corporations raised their prices 3.5 percent in a time of economic distress, Kennedy responded with outrage. In his speech to the American people on April 11, 1962, President John F. Kennedy used a plethora of rhetorical strategies to persuade the American public to join his crusade against the greed of large steel companies. President Kennedy begins his address by immediately stating his opinion on the issue; that the actions of steel corporations “constitute a wholly unjustifiable and irresponsible defiance of public interest.”

    Read More

  • Analysis Of John F Kennedy Speech On Steel

    1090 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1964, the United States was still recovering from a recession when the steel companies decided to raise the price of steel by 3.5 percent. President John F. Kennedy held a press conference to discuss the issue of steel prices. In his speech, John F. Kennedy attempts to reverse the public support for the steel companies by casting them as unpatriotic and greedy to make them look bad.

    Read More

  • The Choice: A Fable of Free Trade and Protectionism

    875 Words  | 2 Pages

    Roberts, Russell. (2006). The Choice: A Fable of Free Trade and Protectionism. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

    Read More

  • Gulag Boss, Kolyma Tales: Gulag narratives and reflection on agency

    798 Words  | 2 Pages

    The use of mass terror was one of the most representative characteristics of the Stalinist regime. The Gulag embodied the constant and large scale use of fear by the Bolsheviks to administer the population. Varlam Shalamov’s Kolyma Tales and Fyodor Mochulsky’s Gulag Boss stood out by their treatment of the question. While relating the same events, namely the daily routine of an arctic Gulag, these two works dealt with this topic from two diametrically opposed perspectives. Indeed, Shalamov was a political prisoner for seventeen years while Mochulsky was a supervisor in the camp. Therefore, their experience of the Gulag diverged in nearly every aspect. Furthermore, Mochulsky and Shalamov pursued different designs. On the one hand, Shalamov attempts to depict the Gulag’s ability to dehumanize prisoners. On the other hand, Mochulsky wrote his book after the fall of the USSR. As a former guard, he attempted to justify his past behavior, not to say exonerate himself.

    Read More

  • Carbon Tax vs. Cap and Trade

    1287 Words  | 3 Pages

    5. Plumer, Brad . "Europe’s cap-and-trade program is in trouble. Can it be fixed?." The Washington Post. N.p., 20 Apr. 2013. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. .

    Read More

  • Defeats at the Workplace, in the Media, and Within the New Corporate Order: The Homestead Strike, a Lost Cause for American Labor

    2617 Words  | 6 Pages

    Wolff provides a brief account of social and technological forces affecting membership and national authority of the steel union, violence and government intervention during the strike, and the profits of Carnegie and Frick and losses of union leaders during the strike’s aftermath.

    Read More

  • Nucor Corporation

    1831 Words  | 4 Pages

    For decades, the steel industry has been one of the toughest markets on a global scale with most steel corporations ending up in bankruptcy. Foreign and domestic competitors, management issues, environmental issues, political agenda’s and technology have had much to do with the demise and more so of the success of the steel industry. The issues that this case focus on Nucor Corporation was of:

    Read More

  • Tariffs: The Avalon Project

    208 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Avalon Project, allowed Congress of the United States to take advantage of the people. The tariff angered many people. It didn’t consider everyone’s feelings, especially southerners. The people in the South argued that these tariffs are illegal. The people of South Carolina declared the tariffs useless because they weren’t fair, and southerners avoided the tariffs. To make sure that it was really illegal, the people of South Carolina made sure no one overstepped. Everything that was bound under the tariffs was nullified in South Carolina, from promises. It was made illegal for any official of the state and of the United States to tax anyone within the limits of the state of South Carolina. Legislators were informed by the people of South

    Read More

  • Child Soldiers and Suicide Bombers: The Brave and Courageous

    646 Words  | 2 Pages

    "Child Soldiers." BBC World Service. BBC World Watch, 12 Jun 2006. Web. 18 Nov 2013. .

    Read More

  • Child Soldiers

    2240 Words  | 5 Pages

    Taylor, Rupert. “The Plight of Child Soldiers.” Suite 101. Media Inc., 11 May 2009. Web. 15 Feb. 2011. .

    Read More

  • Social Reform: The Arts And Crafts Movement

    413 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Arts and Crafts Movement did not promote a certain style, but it did encourage reform as part of its philosophy and brought about a critical look at industrial labor. The movement was at its height between approximately 1880 and 1910 in response to the negative social and aesthetic consequences of the Industrial Revolution. Modern machines were replacing workers, Arts and Crafts supporters wanted advancement of the designer as a craftsman. This would lead to social reform and allow the craftsman to take pride in his own work. The Arts and Crafts Movement was inspired mainly by the ideas of artist and designer William Morris in Britain. Led by Morris, the Arts and Crafts Movement aimed to combine the functional and the decorative, and

    Read More

  • The Effects of Deindustrialization

    1698 Words  | 4 Pages

    Reutter, Mark. Sparrows Point: Making Steel : the Rise and Ruin of American Industrial Might. New York: Summit Books, 1988. Print.

    Read More

  • Essay On Time Orientation

    748 Words  | 2 Pages

    Edward T. Hall was an american anthropologist who´s research interests focused on intercultural relations and nonverbal communication. His approach towards time measurement (Hall 1959) was to split cultures into monochronic and polychronic time orientation. This theory implies that time can be used in terms of “one thing at a time” (Dahl 2004) or to deal with multiple tasks at once. The following table shows the differences in these two concepts.

    Read More

  • International Trade and The Global Economy

    1026 Words  | 3 Pages

    Krugman, P.R. (1987) Is free trade passé? The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 1(2), 131-144. Retrieved from http://dipeco.economia.unimib.it/Persone/Gilli/food%20for%20thinking/simple%20general%20readings%20on%20economics/Is%20Free%20Trade%20Passe.pdf

    Read More

  • Arts And Crafts Movement Essay

    1946 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...the beginnings of industrialization. The social issues are still unresolved, despite the reincarnation of the Arts and Crafts movement in the emerging Maker Movement. Factory conditions and the treatment of workers is still a prominent social issue. The distribution of resources and wealth is still uneven. The effects of industrialization which surfaced less than a century after the invention of the first mechanized processes are an even bigger problem today than they were almost two hundred years ago.

    Read More

More about Steel and Tariffs

Open Document