Rep. Kaptur (D-OH): Tailored, Targeted Tariffs Could Be Good For U.S.
Politicians, the media, and the markets have all responded negatively to President Trump’s proposed tariffs on steel and aluminium.
But Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) has a different perspective. The trade war concerns won’t materialize “if you have a good agreement,” she told Cheddar. “We need trade parity, we need reciprocity in trade.”
She pointed out that China churns out 2.3 billion metric tonnes of steel every year when the world only uses 1.5 billion.
“You’ve got this enormous overhang on the global market...so America ends up being the dump market and our workers get put out of work.”
However, China’s steel manufacturing muscle doesn’t necessarily impact the U.S. market. In 2017, the U.S. got most of its steel from Canada and Mexico, according to the [Commerce Department](https://www.trade.gov/steel/countries/pdfs/imports-us.pdf).
On Wednesday, the White House announced certain markets, such as Canada and Mexico, may be exempt from the proposed 25 percent tax on steel imports and 10 percent tariffs on aluminium. The administration is expected to make the official announcement on them later this week.
A legislative package to end the government shutdown appears on track. A handful of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to advance the bill after what's become a deepening disruption of federal programs and services. But hurdles remain. Senators are hopeful they can pass the package as soon as Monday and send it to the House. What’s in and out of the bipartisan deal has drawn criticism and leaves few senators fully satisfied. The legislation includes funding for SNAP food aid and other programs while ensuring backpay for furloughed federal workers. But it fails to fund expiring health care subsidies Democrats have been fighting for, pushing that debate off for a vote next month.
Sabrina Siddiqui, National Politics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins to break down the SNAP funding delays and the human cost of the ongoing shutdown.
Arguments at the Supreme Court have concluded for the day as the justices consider President Donald Trump's sweeping unilateral tariffs in a trillion-dollar test of executive power.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
