U.S. manufacturers launch coalition to oppose 232 steel and aluminum tariffs

With the slogan “tariffs are taxes,” a diverse array of steel- and aluminum-using manufacturers from across the country have launched a new coalition focused on terminating the Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs. The Coalition of American Metal Manufacturers and Users represents a variety of U.S. manufacturing interests, from metal formers to machinists to food equipment manufacturers and others who are already seeing the damaging results from the 25 percent steel tariffs and 10 percent aluminum tariffs imposed by President Trump on March 23.

“These tariffs will do nothing to uphold their stated purpose of protecting U.S. national security,” said coalition spokesperson Paul Nathanson. “They will instead hurt U.S. manufacturers in the near term by raising the price of the essential inputs they need to make finished products, and do long-term harm to domestic steel producers by eroding their own customer base.”

The growing coalition comprises the following manufacturing associations:

• Industrial Fasteners Institute
• National Tooling & Machining Association
• North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers
• Precision Machined Parts Association
• Precision Metalforming Association
• American Wire Producer Association (associate member)

“It doesn’t matter what finished product you manufacture; if you use steel or aluminum as an input, your costs are rising as a result of these tariffs,” continued Nathanson. “It also doesn’t matter whether you use domestic or imported steel or aluminum, because the effect is the same: higher prices for your basic inputs.”

The 232 scenario manufacturers are facing today is nearly identical to what they faced in 2002, when steel was locked out of the U.S. through the Section 201 tariffs, says the coalition. The decision to shut out the normal flow of global steel commerce left a smaller amount of steel available inside the U.S., driving up costs for steel users. Studies show that 200,000 manufacturing jobs were lost as a result of the imposition of those 201 tariffs, the coalition reports.

“The coalition is united in its efforts to address the same fundamental problem that we experienced in 2002,” continued Nathanson. “Tariffs help a small handful of steel producers while jeopardizing the viability of thousands of steel-using manufacturers.

“Tariffs are taxes, plain and simple,” he concluded. “The administration’s stated goal is to create new jobs and help U.S. manufacturers prosper, but these tariffs will bring the opposite result.”

For additional information, visit the coalition’s website at www.tariffsaretaxes.org.