Trump’s trade moves are making us lose jobs

White House National Trade Council Director Peter Navarro recently cited a new aluminum mill being built in Kentucky as evidence that the Trump administration’s “tough” trade actions are revitalizing American manufacturing. While he calls this “a poster child for the success” of the president’s policies, the reality is that higher costs from tariffs on steel and aluminum imports will hurt American jobs much more than they help.

In March, my firm examined the potential impacts of steel and aluminum tariffs, finding that while over 26,000 steel and aluminum jobs would be created, higher costs from tariffs and retaliation from America’s trading partners would also mean over 495,000 jobs lost elsewhere in the economy. For every American job gained, more than 18 jobs would be lost. These estimates assumed that Canada and Mexico would escape the tariffs; as they did not, we should expect the job loss to grow.

All states would lose more than they win. Michigan: over 14,000 net jobs lost. Ohio: over 15,700 net jobs lost. Pennsylvania: over 16,500 net jobs lost. Wisconsin: over 8,900 net jobs lost.

In Kentucky, the home of the aluminum mill Navarro refers to, while nearly

600 jobs would be created in that state’s steel and aluminum industries, over

7,200 jobs would be lost elsewhere in the state.

Stories of manufacturers of all sizes being harmed by the administration’s steel trade policies are multiplying. In Ohio, a construction equipment manufacturer did away with a plan to hire at least 30 workers after the cost of steel increased by one-third. In Pennsylvania, a cylinder manufacturer CEO said the tariffs would add 10% to the cost of products. Compensating cost cuts will impact workers soon enough.

These tariffs are a poster child, all right, for job-killing economic policy, far from making America great. Laura Baughman, president Trade Partnership Worldwide

Washington, D.C.