久久久无码人妻精品无码_6080YYY午夜理论片中无码_性无码专区_无码人妻品一区二区三区精99

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
Opinion
Home / Opinion / Featured Contributors

America’s new steel and aluminum protectionism

By Dan Steinbock | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2018-03-01 09:40
Share
Share - WeChat
[Cartoon by Song Chen/China Daily]


Now that the White House seeks to turn China’s steel and aluminum overcapacity into a national security matter, America’s new protectionism risks international trade discord.

Following a trade investigation of imports, US Department of Commerce recently recommended imposing heavy tariffs or quotas on foreign producers of steel and aluminum in the interest of national security. Armed with steel and aluminum reports, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross stated that steel is vital to US national security and current import flows are adversely impacting the steel industry.

Ross urged President Trump to take immediate action by adjusting the level of imports through quotas or tariffs. Trump is likely to invoke the Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Act, which allows the president to impose tariffs without congressional approval. He must respond to the reports by April 11 and 19 for steel and aluminum, respectively.

China, the main target of the proposals (though a minor steel importer in the US), contends the US already has excessive protections on domestic iron and steel products and it reserves the right to retaliate.

The proposed policy instruments suggest that the Trump administration is willing to subsidize American steel and aluminum, even at the expense of far bigger and more consequential US industries – and the world trade.

From Trade Expansion to Trade Contraction

While the proposed measures extend from broad adjustments that involve many countries to targeted adjustments that focus on a few countries, the rationale of the suggested figures is fuzzy and ultimately undermined by geopolitical considerations.

In steel industries, the Commerce Department recommends that the US could introduce a global tariff of at least 24 percent on steel imports from all countries. Another option would be a tariff of 53 percent on all steel imports from 12 countries (none are advanced economies, except for South Korea), with a quota on steel imports from all other countries equal to 100 percent of their 2017 exports to the US In the third option, a quota could be enacted on steel products from equal to 63 percent of each country’s 2017 exports to the US

In aluminum, the Commerce Department recommends a 7.7 percent tariff on imports from all exporter countries. The second option is a 23.5 percent tariff on aluminum products from China, Hong Kong, Russia, Venezuela and Vietnam, with a cap for all countries at 2017 import levels. A third option would be an aluminum import quota on all countries of 86.7 percent of their 2017 imports.

Nevertheless, President Trump is given substantial geopolitical leeway. He could have specific countries exempted from the proposed quota, based on US economic interests or national security. Moreover he could also take into account the countries’ willingness to cooperate with the US to address global excess capacity (read: turn against China) and other challenges that face US aluminum and steel industries.

The leeway permits Trump to seize unilateral geopolitical objectives to undermine any semblance of multilateral economic cooperation and to deploy the imperial “divide and rule” principle to play targeted countries against each other.

Ironically, President Kennedy used the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to negotiate tariff reductions of up to 80 percent, which paved the way for the Kennedy Round of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade ("GATT") negotiations that ended in 1967 and eventually led to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995. In contrast, President Trump is exploiting the seldom-used Section 232 of the Act to increase trade barriers, in order to undermine or reverse 50 years of trade progress in just a few years.

In effect, Trump is trying to use the Trade Expansion Act for trade contraction.

Broadening the scope of new protectionism

In his campaign, Trump targeted those economies with which America has the largest aggregate trade deficit. In order to legitimize a trade offense, which has a highly questionable legal basis, he is starting by focusing on steel, but is expanding to aluminum. The ultimate objective is to target America’s deficit partners, however. The proposed measures are just means to that final goal.

In 2017, US imports increased 34 percent to $22 billion. The US is the world’s largest steel importer. The top 10 source countries for steel imports represent 78 percent of the total steel import volume. Canada accounts for the largest share (16%) followed by Brazil, South Korea, Mexico and Russia. Although China has a key role in the proposed tariffs and quotas, it is not even among the top-steel importers in the US If the White House would target its tariffs and quotas proportionately, it should hit hardest its North American Free Trade (NAFTA) allies and trade partners in Asia, which together account for a half of all steel imports.

In 2017, US aluminum imports increased some 31 percent to $13.9 billion, while US production of primary aluminum decreased for the fourth consecutive year to the lowest level since 1951. Like in steel, Canada is the leading source of aluminum imports into the US, accounting for more than two-fifths of total imports by both value and weight in 2016. Imports from China amounted to only half of that, a slight decline from 2015 levels, while the Commerce Department argues imports from China were significantly up.

What are the economic realities of the US trade deficits? In 2017, America incurred a $863 billion trade deficit (up 8.1% from 2016). The highest deficit was with China ($396 billion), followed by Mexico ($74 billion) and Japan ($72 billion). These are the countries that Trump is really after (Figure c). In order to achieve that objective, the White House seems to be willing to risk its economic and strategic cooperation with China, undermine ties with its NAFTA partners, alienate its European North American Treaty Organization (NATO) allies and undercut alliances with the rest of its trade and security partners in Asia.

The record to date is distressing. Recently, the Trump administration announced tariffs on imported solar cells and modules, which protects a small number of US-based solar manufacturers (including one Chinese-owned firm), while destroying some 23,000 American solar workers’ jobs. China has already retaliated. Moreover, South Korea is considering filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization if the US levies heavy duties on steel.

In turn, Trump is likely to resort to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to unilaterally seek remedies for unfair Chinese trade practices, which will risk Chinese retaliation and a tit-for-tat trade war, just as the Tariff Act of 1930 did with dark consequences. Such moves risk undermining not just international trade but the very institutions -trade-dispute resolution mechanisms – that support it.

Time to apply the right lessons

Amid the world trade collapse in 2008, Jagdish Bhagwati published his Termites in the Trading System, which demonstrated how preferential agreements undermine free trade. Since the end of the Cold War, both Republican and Democratic leaders have moved toward such pacts. Until 2016, those moves were gradual and occurred with one pact at a time, however. In the Trump era, the shift is disruptive and multilateral. Today, the international trading system is not threatened by little termites nibbling away walls, but a huge stealth termite – new protectionism – munching away the very foundations of world trade.

Steel and aluminum overcapacity crises are multilateral and have global repercussions, not bilateral as the US measures imply. China’s rise has not come at the expense of the US After the Cold War, the US economy accounted for a fourth of global GDP. Today, the corresponding figure is about the same. Moreover, research indicates that US job losses are the net effect of technology and automation, not just of offshoring to China, India and emerging economies.

Second, since China continues to support world trade and investment, its role is vital in global growth prospects. And as s industrialization will intensify in India and other emerging economies, so will their need for steel, aluminum and other commodities. Rapid economic development that supports global growth prospects should not be penalized.

Third, through the Silk Road initiatives, Chinese overcapacity can serve industrialization in emerging economies that participate in these initiatives, which also offer opportunities to advanced economies.

Finally, any sustained success in overcoming the global steel and aluminum friction must be based on multilateral cooperation with all major producers that will seek to reduce overcapacity in the largest producers but will also ensure emerging economies’ opportunities for rapid economic development in the future.

Dr. Dan Steinbock is an internationally recognized strategist of the multipolar world and the founder of Difference Group. He has served as research director at the India, China and America Institute (USA) and visiting fellow at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (China) and the EU Center (Singapore). 

The commentary was first released by China-US Focus on February 27, 2018.

Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1994 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
久久久无码人妻精品无码_6080YYY午夜理论片中无码_性无码专区_无码人妻品一区二区三区精99

    a级片一区二区| 国产精品人人爽人人爽| 99精品人妻少妇一区二区| 日韩免费高清在线| 久久99国产精品一区| 欧美老熟妇喷水| 黄色aaaaaa| 男人日女人视频网站| 九九热99视频| 无码 制服 丝袜 国产 另类| 色婷婷狠狠18| 精品少妇在线视频| 激情图片中文字幕| 人妻有码中文字幕| 黄色录像特级片| 欧美日韩在线免费播放| 免费看日b视频| 国产aaaaa毛片| 欧美xxxxxbbbbb| 国产欧美123| 91av视频免费观看| 欧美日韩亚洲第一| 真人做人试看60分钟免费| 黄大色黄女片18第一次| 日韩少妇内射免费播放| 国产又粗又猛大又黄又爽| 久久久久久久激情| 日本一本中文字幕| 交换做爰国语对白| 久久99999| wwwxxx黄色片| 国产一区二区片| 激情成人在线观看| 自拍偷拍一区二区三区四区| 97xxxxx| 免费视频爱爱太爽了| av不卡在线免费观看| 亚洲视频第二页| 成人性视频欧美一区二区三区| 美脚丝袜脚交一区二区| 成年人三级视频| 天天操精品视频| 久热精品在线观看视频| 日本成人在线免费视频| 99999精品视频| 日本中文字幕网址| 18禁裸男晨勃露j毛免费观看| 三年中文在线观看免费大全中国| 在线观看av网页| 午夜精品在线免费观看| 精品免费国产一区二区| 91av资源网| 国产69精品久久久久久久| 亚洲精品久久久久久久蜜桃臀| 黄色网址在线免费看| 免费观看中文字幕| 黄色免费高清视频| 91精品一区二区三区四区| 日本福利视频导航| 9191国产视频| 国产a级黄色大片| 99er在线视频| 99热久久这里只有精品| 青青草精品视频在线| 国产av麻豆mag剧集| 国产精品333| 男人揉女人奶房视频60分| 香港三级韩国三级日本三级| 男女高潮又爽又黄又无遮挡| 日韩精品一区二区三区不卡| 国内自拍视频网| 不卡的av中文字幕| 三级黄色片免费观看| 激情成人在线观看| www.亚洲成人网| 给我免费播放片在线观看| av免费观看网| 中文字幕视频在线免费观看| 依人在线免费视频| 老汉色影院首页| 91午夜在线观看| 波多野结衣50连登视频| 又色又爽又高潮免费视频国产| 五月天av在线播放| 秋霞在线一区二区| 久久国产午夜精品理论片最新版本| 国产a级片网站| 久久久久狠狠高潮亚洲精品| 婷婷免费在线观看| 大地资源网在线观看免费官网| 国产精品入口芒果| 可以免费在线看黄的网站| 天天干天天操天天做| 天堂а√在线中文在线| 亚洲午夜无码av毛片久久| 欧美三级理论片| 天堂av免费看| 中国丰满人妻videoshd| 亚洲激情在线看| 久久亚洲国产成人精品无码区| 欧美xxxxx在线视频| 日韩欧美色视频| 亚洲 自拍 另类小说综合图区| 波多野结衣与黑人| 激情六月丁香婷婷| 久久免费视频2| 国产最新免费视频| 亚洲国产欧美91| 欧美精品99久久| www.欧美激情.com| 男人天堂1024| √天堂资源在线| 男人日女人下面视频| 日本国产一级片| www国产精品内射老熟女| 爱豆国产剧免费观看大全剧苏畅| 久久久久免费看黄a片app| 小明看看成人免费视频| 青青草视频在线免费播放| 久久综合在线观看| 欧美 日韩精品| 成人黄色片免费| 超碰成人在线播放| 青青草原成人网| 2021狠狠干| 五月天av在线播放| 国产高清精品在线观看| 国产日产欧美一区二区| 欧美男女交配视频| 欧美老熟妇喷水| 红桃一区二区三区| 亚洲小视频网站| 99爱视频在线| 免费的一级黄色片| 亚洲一级片av| 日韩欧美在线免费观看视频| 色欲色香天天天综合网www| 在线a免费观看| 国产精品入口免费软件| 成熟了的熟妇毛茸茸| 欧美大片免费播放| 久久久久久综合网| 欧美午夜aaaaaa免费视频| 欧洲黄色一级视频| www.日本在线播放| 成年在线观看视频| 强开小嫩苞一区二区三区网站| 亚洲精品久久久中文字幕| 动漫av免费观看| 黄色免费观看视频网站| 日韩精品在线观看av| 欧美日韩dvd| 亚洲国产精品影视| 伊人免费视频二| 九九热精品在线播放| 亚洲xxxx2d动漫1| av丝袜天堂网| 六月激情综合网| 欧美日韩在线中文| 日本福利视频在线| 国产一区二区在线视频播放| 欧美综合在线播放| 成人性免费视频| 免费不卡av在线| av日韩一区二区三区| 精品国产一区二区三区无码| 国产一二三区在线播放| 日韩免费在线观看av| 成人精品视频在线播放| 国产高清av在线播放| 五十路熟女丰满大屁股| 久久久久久久中文| 女人天堂av手机在线| 99爱视频在线| 91av俱乐部| 久久撸在线视频| 中文字幕色网站| 熟女视频一区二区三区| 毛片在线视频观看| 男女激情免费视频| 缅甸午夜性猛交xxxx| 情侣黄网站免费看| 亚洲综合色在线观看| 免费成人黄色大片| 欧洲金发美女大战黑人| 欧美中日韩在线| 每日在线更新av| 亚洲五月天综合| www.夜夜爽| 天堂av免费看| 99在线免费视频观看| 国产最新免费视频| 国产又猛又黄的视频| 99999精品| 精品国偷自产一区二区三区| 无码aⅴ精品一区二区三区浪潮| 噼里啪啦国语在线观看免费版高清版| 污视频免费在线观看网站| 亚洲欧美一区二区三区不卡| 性高湖久久久久久久久aaaaa|