INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Experts have warned Trump that the tariffs are likely to cause more job losses than jobs saved
The first casualties of President Donald Trump's trade war are 60 workers at
Mid-Continent Nail, America's largest nail manufacturer
They lost their jobs on June 15 at a factory in a part of Missouri that voted overwhelmingly for Trump
The whole company could be out of business by Labor Day.This is a potential game changer in Trump's trade strategy, especially if it marks
the start of more companies announcing layoffs
On Monday, Harley-Davidson said it will be moving some "production" offshore because of the trade war (Europe hit Harley with a 31 percent
tariff in response to Trump's steel tariffs on Europe)
Harley won't confirm if jobs are leaving the United States, but the union representing many Harley workers, the International Association of
Machinists and Aerospace Workers, is worried.The Trump administration has argued that these tariffs will save jobs and that the cost to
But now there are real job losses
Now there is a human face on the pain that so many trade experts have been warning about.The political pressure on Trump to stop the tariffs
(especially on America's allies) is likely to escalate
In Missouri, a state with a close U.S
Senate race, the layoffs are already becoming a hot election issue
Senator Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., is planning a rally by the nail plant on Friday.Mid-Continent Nail blames the layoffs on Trump's tariffs
and the company says all 500 employees could lose their jobs by Labor Day
The next round of cuts could come in a matter of days.The trouble for the company started at the end of May when Trump put a hefty 25
percent tariff on steel imports from Mexico and Canada
Mid-Continent had been importing steel from Mexico that American workers would then turn into nails.After the tariff, the company was forced
to hike its prices and customers fled
Orders are a mere 30 percent of what they were a year ago, said George Skarich, the vice president of sales
He suspects many customers are now buying Chinese nails."There's a lot of uncertainty and a ton of fear in Poplar Bluff," said Skarich
He voted for Trump and says he's "disappointed" and "sad" at what's happening to a town and company he loves.If Skarich had a minute with
Trump, he says he'd tell him these tariffs aren't hurting China, they are hurting Missouri
The workers who lost their jobs on June 15 were contract workers paid about $10 an hour, but the next round of layoffs will hit longtime
employees, many of whom are making $13 to $14 an hour plus benefits
That's a middle-class job in Poplar Bluff where the median income is just over $31,000 a year.Trump campaigned on "jobs, jobs, jobs." He
promised to be the "greatest jobs producer God ever created." He and his team regularly argue that the tariffs are going to save jobs and
even bring jobs back from overseas
But the vast majority of economists and business leaders have warned that many more jobs are likely to be lost than saved.The Tax Foundation
predicts 48,585 job losses from the tariffs Trump has already enacted on imports of washing machines, solar panels, steel, aluminum and $50
billion in Chinese products
That figure would soar to over 250,000 job losses if Trump moves forward with tariffs on another $200 billion of Chinese products, the Tax
Foundation said.Predicting the outcome of a trade war is difficult
economy is unlikely to fall into a recession because of this, most economists say, but it's likely to curtail growth a bit as companies hold
off on hiring more workers or building new factories
And some parts of the country are likely to be hard hit
Europe, Canada, Turkey and China are targeting their tariffs at towns that voted for Trump.Supporters of Trump's tariffs point out that the
protectionist moves have yielded job gains
Nearly 4,700 American jobs have been created since the steel and aluminum tariffs went into effect as businesses like U.S
Steel restart blast furnaces for in Illinois, and Century Aluminum reopened an aluminum smelter in Kentucky
Many of these positions are union jobs that come with $60,000 salaries and benefits."Idled steel and aluminum capacity is being restarted as
we sit here," said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross at a Senate hearing last week.But the situation in Missouri is a warning sign of how the
tariffs are helping some workers and harming others, and that's tricky politics for Trump who looks like he is picking winners and
losers.Workers in New Madrid County, Missouri are celebrating as Magnitude 7 Metals is restarting an aluminum product line, giving 450
But just an hour away in Poplar Bluff, 500 workers could be out of a job by the end of the summer.The president's focus has been on saving
jobs that make raw steel and aluminum, but there are many more jobs that are harmed by the tariffs because they turn raw metal into
something else like a car or airplane
The longer the tariffs are in place, the more companies are likely to have to make cuts.Experts have warned Trump that the tariffs are
likely to cause more job losses than jobs saved, and the early signs of that are starting to play out in small towns south of St
LouisAs the job losses mount, so may the pressure on Trump.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent
staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
