There are few things that Democratic President Joe Biden has not reversed or changed regarding Trump’s actions and decisions in the White House. However, there is at least one thing Biden has left pretty much the same.
Steel tariffs.
If you weren’t aware, Donald Trump imposed new tariffs or increased them on incoming steel for a number of countries in March of 2018. Most countries now pay a 25 percent tariff to import their steel here. Additionally, the Trump administration added a 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum.
As Trump said at the time, “When a country (USA) is losing billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good and easy to win. For example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don’t trade anymore – we win big. It’s easy.”
Unfortunately, not everyone saw Trump’s logic and business acumen as good for America.
Companies like USP Holdings and other steel industry leaders didn’t like the tariffs as they claimed they were damaging to them when countries no longer wanted to trade and pay the higher tariffs.
And so USP took the Trump administration to court.
Now, to be clear, there wasn’t much of any actual footing for these companies to go off of. I mean, you can’t win big cases like this in court just because you don’t like the situation.
And so, they claimed that the Trump administration’s imposition of the tariffs was handled improperly and violated the Administrative Procedure Act because it was “arbitrary and capricious.”
However, the Trade Court threw out that argument in 2021, saying that the report from then-Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross (which recommended the tariffs) was not in violation of the act, as it is not a final agency action but a mere recommendation.
Naturally, USP wasn’t happy with that decision, and so took it to a US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Here, the decision differed from the trade court a bit. But the end result was still that the Administrative Procedures Act had not been violated.
USP Holdings then went to the Supreme Court.
And on Monday, that appeal was turned away without so much as a comment. Just completely thrown out. The Court wouldn’t even hear it.
Now, it’s important to point out here that even the current administration, known for throwing out Trump policies just because the former president’s name was attached, thinks this was the right decision, according to the Epoch Times.
As Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, told Politico, that decision was made based solely on the American worker.
He explained that while companies that import steel, such as USP, might not like the tariffs and what they might do to their trade deals, they do provide a certain amount of income that is much needed in today’s economy. If the tariffs were to go away and nothing else put in their place, Paul says it could mean plant layoffs and even closures in places like Ohio and Pennsylvania, where the steel industry is more relied upon.
Naturally, such layoffs and closures would then impact community economies, possibly even bringing total collapse.
Additionally, it wouldn’t be a good look politically for the Biden administration. There is already enough that the American people aren’t happy about with Biden. Adding more plant closures and layoffs would only add to the stress and disapproval of his presidency.
Paul also points out that the tariffs have, in fact, done what they were designed to do. Sure, there is some negative impact on the steel-consuming industries. But as far as he is concerned, it’s very “modest.”
And so, for now, the tariffs will stay in place.
