Trump's copper tariff will not help re-industrialize America

A burden on this metal's users will only hurt US manufacturing

- MATTHEW YGLESIAS

U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed 50% tariff on copper imports is emblematic of his administration's incoherent approach to economic policy: Soaked in nostalgia for America's industrial past, it pursues strategies that will make it harder for U.S. manufacturers to succeed now and in the future.

Trump noted that copper "is necessary for Semiconductors, Aircraft, Ships, Ammunition, Data Centers, Lithium-ion Batteries, Radar Systems, Missile Defense Systems, and even, Hypersonic Weapons, of which we are building many."

So why would you then want to raise taxes on copper? Increasing the price Americans pay for copper makes the U.S. a less desirable location for building aircraft, ceding advantage to competing producers in Europe, Brazil and Canada. It makes it harder to establish a domestic semiconductor manufacturing industry. It exacerbates the already dire state of the U.S. shipbuilding industry, which is wholly reliant on protectionist policies.