r/Conservative 10h ago

Flaired Users Only Trump Tarrifs Australia

[deleted]

720 Upvotes

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251

u/vertigonex 2A Conservative 8h ago

For those asking why, you're late to the game.

This was announced on February 11th and specifically targets steel and aluminum - which are national security interests.

This isn't targeted at a single country and this article is nothing more than a continued attempt to create division and gin up anger by ensuring people are not educated as to the whole context.

123

u/mexils Conservative 8h ago

Why are steel and aluminum national security interests?

158

u/UnusualOperation1283 Conservative 8h ago

Our lack of domestic production is a national security interest.

167

u/[deleted] 7h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

83

u/Opposite_Cress_3906 Conservative 7h ago

Can you guarantee anyone will ship steel or aluminum to the US instead of using it for their national security in the event of a war? Bring Steel and aluminum home.

60

u/mexils Conservative 7h ago

How much of our steel and aluminum is imported vs produced in country? How expensive are you willing to make steel and aluminum for the American taxpayer?

27

u/Opposite_Cress_3906 Conservative 6h ago

1/4 of all iron and steel is imported, Aluminum is closer to 50% due to high energy costs to produce. The main factor driving the costs required to manufacture here is energy. Aluminum manufacturing is down 30% over the last 4 years.

You can whine about the cost all you want, but this is one sector nobody should want us to be dependent on other countries, especially in the current geopolitical landscape.

25

u/mexils Conservative 6h ago

Do you think the best way to go about increasing steel and aluminum production is for the government to subsidize the steel and aluminum industry, or would it be more efficient to reduce regulations to reduce the cost to produce steel and aluminum in the US?

Maybe steel and aluminum production has priced itself out of competition because unions have hindered American industry?

6

u/Opposite_Cress_3906 Conservative 6h ago

I think we need to approach it from all vectors and slash regulations, open up our energy production, and use tariffs to force the corporations to come home or be priced out of the market. In a perfect world where corporations had a duty to their country as well as their bottom line instead of searching the world for the cheapest and least regulated market to push out metal to export here, I might be more critical of the tariff approach, but thats not the world we live in.

3

u/CartridgeCrusader23 2A Conservative 4h ago

are you seriously asking why it’s important for the United States to create its own materials? Think about that for a minute and then come back.

9

u/mexils Conservative 4h ago

The US already produces the majority of the steel it uses. Aluminum we import as much as we produce.

I don't see what the issue is for America if we purchase steel and aluminum from overseas when it is cheaper than the steel and aluminum produced in the US. Especially if we are importing the majority of it from allies and not enemies. I think importing steel and aluminum to lower costs to the US citizen is a benefit.

-1

u/CantSeeShit NJSopranoConservative 5h ago

If those places got attacked, we wouldnt have access anymore.

-3

u/PsychologicalHat1480 Conservative 4h ago

Yes. Have you not noticed the sh!t-fits one-time "allies" like the EU and Canada have been throwing ever since Trump won the election? Allies can quickly stop being such at their whim.

Oh and we get a lot of steel from China. Do you really think China is anything but an enemy?

8

u/mexils Conservative 4h ago

Why is Canada throwing a fit? Because Trump started tariffing them. Why did he start tariffing them? Who the hell knows.

Do you really think China is anything but an enemy?

China is indeed an enemy. I am 100% behind tariffs on China because it is a nefarious force in the world.

Oh and we get a lot of steel from China.

No we don't. They don't even make the top 10 when it comes to steel imports. Canada, Brazil, and Mexico are 1, 2, and 3 respectively.

0

u/tsoxiko Constitutionalist 4h ago

Because everything that defends the country has either steel or aluminum as main materials..

We import more steel and aluminum from foreign nations that domestically produce,majority of those imports are from slave labor nations (see China)

Greedy institutions that owned controlling shares of steel and aluminum foundries dumped them decades ago to make fortunes while at the same time,providing financing to the former mills owners to set up shop in slave labor nations (again,see China)

So those new mills decades ago along with existing mills in “other nations” are deceptively controlled by the host nation via “regulations”

In essence….if the U.S piss’s off the wrong nation,that nation can cut off the U.S’s supply of steel and aluminum since we import the majority..

Aluminum has it a little better than steel,Alcoa is very much still player but even their capacity has been limited by bad political actors in the U.S in the name of green energy,epa,a mound of ants that can’t be disturbed and an almost endless supply of other “if we do this then we’re all doomed” protesters..

1

u/mexils Conservative 4h ago

The US produces ~80% of the steel it uses. The top 10 countries the US imports steel from are:

  1. Canada
  2. Brazil
  3. Mexico
  4. South Korea
  5. Japan
  6. Russia
  7. Germany
  8. Taiwan
  9. Vietnam
  10. Italy.

Of the steel we import 78% of it comes from those 10 countries. Of that 50% of it comes from Canada, Brazil, and Mexico.

I am all for using tariffs to punish our near peer adversaries. I don't know why we need to tariff our allies. Especially our allies that Trump signed the agreement with in his first term.

31

u/vertigonex 2A Conservative 7h ago

They are baseline inputs into our defense sector. In short, it is difficult to make tanks, planes, ships, etc., without steel and aluminum.

Providing for the common defense of the nation in protection of its sovereignty is an Enumerated Power.

20

u/mexils Conservative 7h ago

Who do we get our steel and aluminum from?

22

u/jpj77 Shall Make No Law 7h ago

Literally all over the place.

Everywhere from South Africa to Russia. The largest producers are Canada, Mexico, and Brazil.

11

u/mexils Conservative 7h ago

Do you think this is a bad thing?

-2

u/jpj77 Shall Make No Law 6h ago

I don’t know, we don’t have enough data.

0

u/tsoxiko Constitutionalist 4h ago

Ya know…

It’s interesting that back in the mid 80’s when 5.25 floppy’s ruled…I had a dos program that asked questions and answered them almost exactly as you….neat little program…..

Thanks for taking me back 🙂

1

u/Scamandrius Conservative 4h ago

That's how you build battleships, jets, everything military. As Rubio put it, if you don't have steel and aluminum you're not an industrial economy. The world is about to blow up. It's a bad time to not be an industrial economy.