Donald Trump's Dumb Steel and Aluminum Tariffs Are Also Disastrous for Beer
Donald Trump's plans to make America great have been scattershot and ineffective so far: from demanding credit for saving jobs that wound up being sent overseas anyway to fruitlessly declaring "infrastructure week" every few months. In the "best" case scenarios, his ideas benefit CEOs at the expense of everyone else, and in the worst case, it's just a train wreck for everybody.
On Thursday, Trump announced that he wants to impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, using a provision that lets him cite "national security concerns." In theory, this is him making good on his campaign promise to bring good jobs back to the U.S., though it's far likelier to just spark layoffs in just about any industry that relies on those metals. But Trump often seems to make up his mind about policy on the spot, which makes no doubt makes it painfully difficult to work for him.
The news set off waves of complaints from congressional Republicans, who warned that the tariffs could raise costs for American consumers, set off a trade war, and invite retaliation from other countries (like Canada, which is vowing just that). Trump's own economic adviser, Gary Cohn, is even reportedly considering resigning as a result. The Dow also tumbled 400 points on the news, and American companies from car manufacturers to beer distributors are looking at a major hit.
The fallout from these tariffs could be tremendous, including rising prices, layoffs, and beer coming in plastic bags like Canadian milk.
This isn't the first time Trump's sloppy decisions about manufacturing have cost workers jobs and raised prices for consumers. Solar companies plan to lay off hundreds of employees after the president imposed steep tariffs on imported solar panels. But we can tell by Trump's cabinet appointments that he's pretty contemptuous of, say, renewable energy. It's less clear right now what he's got against High Life.
