Now as far as the steel 25% tariff...
Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross defended President Donald Trump’s plan to raise tariffs on steel and aluminum with a can of Campbell soup, a Budweiser tallboy,
and some basic arithmetic.
“
In a can of Campbell’s Soup, there are about 2.6 pennies’ worth of steel,” Ross argued, holding up a
can of soup on CNBC.
“
So if that goes up by 25 percent, that’s about six-tenths of 1 cent on the price on a can of Campbell’s soup. I just bought this can today at a 7-Eleven ... and it’s priced at a $1.99. Who in the world is going to be too bothered?”
Ross is responding to widespread criticism that Trump’s announcement to place a 25 percent import tariff on steel and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum would likely lead to a trade war, raise prices for American businesses that buy steel and aluminum, and in turn increase prices for consumers.
Republican governors, senators, and representatives have all come out against the plan — even Trump’s chief economic adviser Gary Cohn is against it. Among its supporters are trade hawks like White House adviser Peter Navarro and some Rust Belt Democrats, including Sens. Sherrod Brown (OH) and Bob Casey (PA).
But Ross argued that any consumer price increases would be negligible and have “a trivial effect” on consumers.
He went on to give another example:
“There’s about one ton of steel in a car,” Ross said on CNN. “
The price of a ton of steel is $700 or so, so 25 percent on that would be one half of 1 percent price increase on the typical $35,000 car. So it’s no big deal.”
In his estimate, that would amount to a roughly $175 price increase on a car.
Trump’s commerce secretary: tariffs raising car prices $175 is "trivial"
AND REMEMBER folks... THAT's a TARIFF on imported steel.
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Steelmakers, too, said they will increase production. U.S. steel imports have increased for years as a global glut of steel drove down prices, causing domestic producers to close mills. Imports accounted for more than a quarter of the U.S. steel supply last year.
he benchmark price for hot-rolled, coiled steel is above $770 a ton, up 32% from a recent low point in October. Spot-market prices for that type of steel, widely used in manufacturing, are above $800 a ton. Some steel distributors say mills are only partially filling their orders because of tight supplies.
New tariffs to raise steel, aluminum prices
