Washington D.C. – National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) President Rufus Yerxa today issued the following statement regarding the President’s decision to implement tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum:
“The many manufacturing and exporting companies of NFTC are gravely concerned by today’s announcement.
“These are massive tariff hikes and they are going to raise costs for many of our world class industries like autos, machinery and equipment, oil and gas, and construction. These are all huge sectors of the economy, and the negative impacts on them will surely outweigh any benefits to the steel and aluminum industries.
“In addition, the use of a sweeping national security justification will lead many countries to retaliate against our most competitive exporters and will undermine our legitimacy in the WTO, NATO, and other global alliances. Other countries will retaliate to defend their ‘national security’ whether on agriculture, computers or airplanes.
“Finally, imposing massive new costs on American industry and the American taxpayer will negate the positive benefits from the recent tax cuts and regulatory reform. This is not the way to solve the structural problems that the steel and aluminum industries face.”
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