In his August 2017 editorial, “Tariff Debate Pits Producers Against Consumers,” chief editor John Sprovieri clearly posed the dilemma of low-priced Chinese steel imports, which have severely impacted the U.S. steel industry. John explained that proposed quotas or tariffs would protect the steel industry, but harm steel users, whose cost of steel will then be higher than their foreign competitors. Some analysts believe we could lose more jobs in the steel-using industries than we save in the steel-producing industry. John ends his editorial as follows: “In short, protecting one industry could hurt another. Which would you choose?”
My answer is that the government and John are asking the wrong question. We spend millions of dollars every year on dumping allegations and other appeals against low-priced foreign products. Almost always, we wind up with the same dilemma as with steel today. Applying quotas or tariffs selectively to narrow industry segments will always create U.S. winners and losers. Instead, we should find ways to create only U.S. manufacturing winners. I will explain.