How Can Tariff On Steel And Aluminum Really Affect The US

The United States of America has been experiencing a trade deficit since 1976. In 1975, the U.S. had a trade surplus of approximately $12 billion. In 1976, however, the U.S. had a trade deficit of approximately $6.1 billion. In 2017, that number has swelled to an astonishing $566 billion. With numbers growing to be much larger, it doesn’t get nearly as much attention as it should anymore. It can affect the economy, because of it being financed with debt, and it can also hurt the reputation of the U.S. as a nation. Because we can import mostly everything we lose the ability to produce some things, therefore we lose our ability to compete in the world market. Our trade deficit has increased steadily over the years. In this paper we will see how

consumers? There is a simple explanation and a complex explanation of how it would directly affect U.S. consumers. Simply, these tariffs make goods produced in the U.S. that use imported steel or aluminum more expensive. For example, canned beverages and steel buildings are impacted greatly. If you currently pay $0.50 for a can of Pepsi, then 10% tariffs are placed on the aluminum used to produce that can, then you may see the price increase to $0.55. That doesn’t seem like a huge deal, but let’s say annually as a country we drink 600 canned goods per person on average, then that $0.05 increase amounts to an additional $9,750,000,000 being spent on canned goods using aluminum imports. This also may not seem like a lot, but imagine what it cost to produce a steel building and imagine a 25% increase in those

However, I believe that there is a solution that is possible. The average U.S. consumer wants quality goods at a lower price. To achieve this I offer the solution of making tariffs equal to the cost of producing a good within the United States. For example, if it costs $110 to produce a good in the U.S. but we could import one (with the same quality) with a total production and shipping cost of $100, then the imported good should have a 10% tariff in order to bring the total up to $110. So instead on having a U.S. good which costs $110 to produce and an imported good with a tariff which would cost much more (based on how tariffs are currently applied), we would have two goods with equal production costs. This would create a situation in which the consumer can choose which in their opinion is the greater quality good. I personally believe that would lead to increased consumers choosing the U.S. produced good, which in turn would mean more jobs could be created and reliance on imports would decrease. Also I believe it would return us to a stronger competitive standing in the world market. My proposed solution doesn’t solve the problem of the selling of U.S. Treasuries to other countries. The debt is a complete separate issue in which the U.S. government must address if we ever hope to have a trade