POLITICS: Let the Trump Layoffs Begin (WSJ)

"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
03/18/2018 at 11:42 • Filed to: None

And people are saying Trump’s great and America’s great and the economy’s great. Again.

The Trump Tariff Layoffs Begin
A keg manufacturer lays off workers as domestic steel prices rise.
By The [Wall Street Journal] Editorial Board

American Keg Company is the only remaining U.S. manufacturer of stainless steel beer kegs. Despite competition from German and Chinese firms, American Keg has only used domestic steel. But now it’s being punished for this domestic sourcing as Donald Trump’s steel tariffs have forced the business to lay off a third of its workforce.

Since it began manufacturing kegs in 2015, the Pottstown, Pennsylvania-based American Keg has operated on a narrow margin. The 15.5-gallon keg is a staple in bars and fraternities, and the American-made version currently retails for $115 while a German or Chinese keg costs about $95. American Keg has survived by selling to craft breweries that want to support U.S. workers and American steel, even at a small premium. “But there’s a limit to what people would pay to have an American product,” says CEO Paul Czachor.

Mr. Trump has imposed the tariffs in the name of national security. But in practice they punish American steel users by giving the American metal industry the opportunity to raise prices while still undercutting foreign steel and aluminum.

Tariffs were one of Donald Trump’s campaign promises, and steel makers have already raised prices in anticipation. Since Mr. Trump took office, the price for American hot-rolled steel coil has increased by more than 35%, rising about $222 a ton, according to price data from S&P Global Platts. When the President signed orders imposing the tariffs on March 8, prices increased by more than 4% in a day.

American Keg is bracing for even higher domestic steel prices this year. “We’re already seeing that we’re getting priced out of the market with our U.S. kegs,” Mr. Czachor said. “We’re very concerned that this could put us out of business.”

One week after the Commerce Department recommended heavy tariffs on steel and aluminum in February, Mr. Czachor gathered 10 of his 30 workers in a conference room at work and broke the news that they were being laid off. Mark Foster, 55, was among those who lost a job.

“I had to hold back tears, and it was kind of embarrassing,” Mr. Foster told us in an interview this week. “I took it hard. I really took it hard. American Keg was my ticket. I was making my own money. It was a place where I could get my independence. Now that’s blown. It’s just a real hardship because where before, the money was coming in, and there was more food in the refrigerator, now my wife and I are trying to get the government to give us food stamps until work picks up. Why would you do that, Mr. President, when we would rather work than be on welfare? ”

Good question. The Trump tariffs are supposed to protect the 140,000 workers employed by steel makers. But even if they do that for a while, until companies like American Keg suffer and stop buying steel, the tariffs punish the 6.5 million workers in steel-dependent industries. Many of those newly vulnerable workers are blue-collar guys like Mr. Foster who crave the dignity of a day’s work.

Mr. Trump will pay a political price for his rotten policy, and he should. But far worse is the arbitrary damage to businesses and workers like Mark Foster who are being punished not by competition but by their own government.

Appeared in the March 17, 2018, print edition.

DISCUSSION (37)

Ash78, voting early and often > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
03/18/2018 at 11:59

These aren’t even unintended consequences. They are fully proven as detrimental and they rarely even provide a short-term protectionist barrier like a lot of other misguided trade policies.

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
03/18/2018 at 11:59

first of many and as always blue collar takes the brunt of it

kinda waiting to see if his tarrifs will have any effect on my job as i work with aluminium and sheet metal... worldwide company tho... so maybe itll just hurt the murica based operations

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
03/18/2018 at 12:00

Unbelievable. It’s like Trump couldn’t see the knock-on effects of his tariff.

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
03/18/2018 at 12:00

Unbelievable. It’s like Trump couldn’t see the knock-on effects of his tariff.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Ash78, voting early and often
03/18/2018 at 12:12

And this story is out of Pennsylvania. Donald Trump is a nasty man.

fintail > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
03/18/2018 at 12:17

It’s almost like this gang of crooks and cons doesn’t know anything about economics or business. Imagine that.

Spanfeller is a twat > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
03/18/2018 at 12:37

I mean.... As far as I understand some countries were dumping steel and aluminum, so I understand the tariffs, but everything behind the implementation just smells of shit.

And if an American company raised prices because they don’t have to compete with Chinese steel, then they can go fuck themselves because that’s not capitalism, that’s monopolistic pricing!

shop-teacher > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
03/18/2018 at 12:40

This is too maddening and depressing for me to make a coherent comment.

Wacko > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
03/18/2018 at 12:55

The funny this is the whole world knows this, except the 50million americans who voted orange

Spanfeller is a twat > fintail
03/18/2018 at 12:57

They know a lot about business.

They just want to keep all the money to themselves...

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
03/18/2018 at 13:08

Kinja'd!!!

fintail > Spanfeller is a twat
03/18/2018 at 14:07

Well, they know about graft and corruption and dodging responsibility and accountability. They know about inheriting from daddy, swindling it into a larger pot of gold, and then claiming to be self-made.

They don’t know about legitimate ethical business - there is such a thing. It won’t get you far in politics, however.

Spanfeller is a twat > fintail
03/18/2018 at 14:08

They are perfect Mexican politicians. I swear your country is slowly turning into Mexico.

Ya los espero cuando protesten el fuero político HA!

fintail > Spanfeller is a twat
03/18/2018 at 14:09

The US has been creeping away from legitimate first world status for some time. Take a look at infrastructure, primary education, socio-economic chasms. This is becoming a Randian dystopia.

Spanfeller is a twat > fintail
03/18/2018 at 14:12

The future of the US is uncertain, maybe one day you guys will supply us with drugs. who knows? certainly not me.

fintail > Spanfeller is a twat
03/18/2018 at 14:14

Plenty of meth-making know-how in much of Murka, especially flyover land full of patriotic respectful law-abiding god-fearing gun-loving Constitution-preaching “real Americans” of inconsistent educational attainment.

The Simpsons predicted this, then predicted a woman leader would come along to clean it up. I’m ready.

NKato > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
03/18/2018 at 14:16

Trump is singlehandedly doing more damage to America in the last two years than either party could have ever possibly achieved in a decade. And we don’t see this as criminal?

Spanfeller is a twat > fintail
03/18/2018 at 14:21

yeah, it is known, but not other drugs...

I don’t know, man, I just want drug kingpins out of my country, I hate them, I think they are assholes, stupid, cowardly, and shameless.

Because nothing says “I have insecurities about my genitals” like a pimped truck, customized Berettas, and shamelessly killing hundreds of innocent people to “Send a message” fuck these people. I hope they change the law so that they can be shot by a firing squad at dawn in the Zocalo with tens of thousands cheering their deaths. That’s how you send a message.

Sorry, I went on a tangent. Lets hope the US gets their shit together, there’s a saying that goes “If the US Sneezes, Mexico catches a cold” Right now you guys are at the “I can eat whatever I want” stage of diabetes... lets hope you get your act right before you’re looking at limb amputation (looking at you, California!)

fintail > Spanfeller is a twat
03/18/2018 at 14:29

Leave out the killing hundreds bit, and you have a large American demographic - trucks and guns. Mexico doesn’t have capital punishment, right? I am usually against it, as I have no faith in the “criminal justice system” (sarcastic quotes), yet there are cases where I really support it. Drug kingpins who order or are involved with slaughter, definitely.

If the US sneezes, the world catches a cold. Even with declining US relevance, it is still true. There are also countless people who claim to hate the US, but love consuming American products, wearing American styles, following American entertainment, etc.

Limb amputation might involve more than CA - I have heard terms such as “Bluexit”, and for years there have been many talks of the western states being their own entity. It won’t happen, of course, but it is a funny thought. And realistically, I have a lot more in common (ideologically, politically, economically) with someone from Vancouver than someone from Mississippi.

Spanfeller is a twat > fintail
03/18/2018 at 14:46

Well, as much as someone from Monterrey has a lot more to do politically with someone from Dallas than someone from Oaxaca with them.

Yes, capital punishment is illegal, so is perpetual imprisonment (however, judges normally overgo this by sentencing many 45 year sentences).

I think that unity is better, but it means that we all have to try, and the internet somehow made it harder.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
03/18/2018 at 15:47

I just had a project bid 25% over the estimate. It uses a lot of hot rolled steel coil and sheet. It willl mean the difference between doing projects and not doing projects for many businesses and agencies that use these products.

fintail > Spanfeller is a twat
03/18/2018 at 15:55

Maybe even more, probably comparing someone with the toniest parts of Mexico City with someone in Beverly Hills vs someone in Oaxaca.

Most of my ideology leans left, but I am not against harsh punishment for harsh crimes. However, I don’t trust the system to consistently and accurately determine guilt, especially in some of our less developed states. Saying that, if I don’t have 100% faith in the system, I don’t want capital punishment enacted. If one innocent man is executed or locked up for life (and you know it has happened numerous times in less developed America), it shouldn’t be possible at all - and those responsible for the prosecution should lose everything.

Unity is a fine ideal, it will take both sides both working together and admitting their errors. The left can be elitist and shrill, the right can be hypocritical and deceptive. The internet allows non-participating entities to have influence, like the Russian influence in American social media.

Spanfeller is a twat > fintail
03/18/2018 at 16:10

I hate harsh punishment. If it was up to me we would have nordic jails.

But I honestly want these people to suffer... They activate the less humane part of my brain.

I’m also a non actor and look at me! The internet has developed into a bad forum... I hope it changes (but on its own...

fintail > Spanfeller is a twat
03/18/2018 at 16:29

That becomes an insane discussion - criminal justice to punish, or deter? If someone slaughters a bunch of people or another similar heinous act, I don’t know if a resort style prison is right - hell, it might be better than their life on the outside.

You may not be in the US, but you don’t profit or take pleasure from its disunity, unlike the group the current dear leader admires.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > fintail
03/18/2018 at 16:42

It won’t get you far in politics, however.

Isn’t 45 a rather glaring counterexample?

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Spanfeller is a twat
03/18/2018 at 16:47

I’m no economist, but when Trump puts out a tariff, it seems like nothing but a giveaway to American steel. And won’t automobile prices have to rise as well and push down new car sales and push up prices on used cars?

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > shop-teacher
03/18/2018 at 16:48

And shame on the main stream media for having the audacity to share this story.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Wacko
03/18/2018 at 16:54

And the 30 million by whose popular votes Mr. Trump lost.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > NKato
03/18/2018 at 16:57

Certainly, what you say here cleaves unto one of the primary narratives we hear right now from the mainstream media. I don’t necessarily disagree, but it’s good to recognize it for what it is. Apart from what 45 is doing, he’s freeing up others to take of their gloves and their pretenses of civility as well. Trump is taking Murica to Hell and along with the rest of the world, we’re having a race to the bottom.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
03/18/2018 at 16:58

Dang. That’s the same ingredient from the WSJ story.

fintail > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
03/18/2018 at 18:15

He’s all about unethical sketchy business - and he jumped to the ultimate point in politics without effort. He’s a key example.

Spanfeller is a twat > fintail
03/18/2018 at 21:04

I want it to be rehabilitation in a closed environment where they can’t damage members of society...

Spanfeller is a twat > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
03/18/2018 at 21:05

Probably, but in the short term, some people get filthy rich....

fintail > Spanfeller is a twat
03/18/2018 at 23:03

Might be easier said than done, especially in a place with a much smaller population and less broken mental health system than Murka.

I also have doubts that everyone can be rehabbed.

Spanfeller is a twat > fintail
03/18/2018 at 23:27

Well, then keep them perpetually in prison.

I wouldn’t have it all the way nordic, I’d have them pay for their treatment with some sort of prison job

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Spanfeller is a twat
03/19/2018 at 00:00

The rich get richer and the filthy get filthier.

Los ricos se hacen más ricos y los pobres se hacen más pobres.

Spanfeller is a twat > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
03/19/2018 at 00:07

Entre mas manos lo tocan mas puerco se pone ahhaha.

Again, you guys are turning into Mexico and beware! Being Mexico sucks if the only thing you take from us is government style..