Prominent U.S. business lobbies are begging the Trump administration not to introduce tariffs on Chinese imports, but some small manufacturers are pushing the other way: Trying to get more products on the tariffs list, Bloomberg informed.
Makers of steel wheels, safes and other products want the U.S. to impose tariffs on goods by their Chinese competitors, which aren’t among the products targeted so far. They say the duties the U.S. imposed on steel and aluminum imports raised their costs but didn’t affect finished goods made in China and sold here — setting up a potentially damaging Catch-22.
“All we’re asking is that the table be leveled and the field balanced so the competition is fair,” said Jeffrey Pizzola, chief operating officer of Americana Development Inc., which employs about 400 people in Ohio, Georgia and Indiana to make steel wheels for products including lawn and garden equipment, recreational vehicles and trailers.
More than 1,300 Chinese products, from biscuit ovens to backhoes to false teeth, have been targeted for tariffs in response to complaints about China’s theft of intellectual property. That’s separate from levies imposed in March on steel and aluminum imports from China and elsewhere on grounds they pose a threat to national security.
The National Retail Federation, Information Technology Industry Council and more than 100 other groups have formed a coalition to oppose the tariffs. They argue that the U.S. levies and possible tit-for-tat retaliation from China on U.S. goods will lead to higher prices for U.S. consumers that in turn hurt the U.S. economy and cost jobs.
“The combination of trade actions proposed by Trump is prompting unique responses from the small manufacturers,” said Dean Pinkert, a Washington trade attorney and former commissioner of the U.S International Trade Commission.
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