One of the biggest problems with protectionism is that when protectionists find themselves in a hole, they just keep digging deeper. The Trump Administration demonstrated that by imposing steel and aluminum tariffs on the European Union, Canada and Mexico – despite the harm its tariffs have already had on the U.S economy.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross called the 25 percent tariff on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum a “trivial increase” in the prices passed on to American consumers. Commerce secretary, meet the Chamber of Commerce. The people who run America's businesses have an entirely different view of the matter. John G. Murphy, senior vice president for international policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, has said the impact of the tariff increases “on manufacturing and construction will be substantial.”
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