BUSINESS/TARIFFS/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “With tariffs driving up the price of stainless steel, the precision-part manufacturer Accu-Swiss in Oakdale, Calif., came up with a plan to save money: turn off the lights but keep the machines on…As every business school student learns, developing plans to deal with disruptions — from a hurricane to a rail strike — is as much a part of managing a company as billing or making payroll. The gathering storm of trade sanctions and retaliatory moves is forcing executives to put those lessons to use. The 25 percent tariff on steel and 10 percent tariff on aluminum that President Trump first threatened in March and put into effect in June precipitated a string of retaliatory tariffs from trading partners like China, Germany, Mexico and Canada. On Friday [7-6-18], the administration is placing tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese products, many of them used in American manufacturing, and China has threatened to respond with sanctions of its own. Mr. Trump has promised that the tariffs will protect jobs in the steel and aluminum industries (as well as safeguard national security). Several manufacturers, however, said they were skeptical that domestic steel and aluminum makers had the capacity to meet the increased demand any time soon, and worried that prices would continue to rise — and even threaten jobs at their own companies.”
–Patricia Cohen, “Tariffs? Time for a Plan B: ‘Gobble Up Every Bit of Material That I Can’,” The New York Times online, July 5, 2018