July 28, 2020By Craig Mauger
During a press conference in Lansing, Kolb and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called on President Donald Trump, the GOP-controlled U.S. Senate and the Democratic-controlled U.S. House to negotiate a new relief plan that provides more federal cash to states as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to slash government revenues.
Kolb and Whitmer also bashed a plan put forward by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky. Kolb said the $1-trillion plan wouldn't provide a "single new dollar" of economic relief that Michigan and other states need.
“With this plan, the budget reductions in the coming year would be severe,” Whitmer's budget director said.
Given current revenues, cuts to public safety, education and health care services would be unavoidable at the local and state levels, Kolb said....
This is a national health emergency that has resulted in illness and deaths as well as an economic contraction in the USA resulting in lost revenues for states through normally collected taxes.
July 30, 2020
By Gordyn Grzelewski
Dearborn — Ford Motor Co. (click here) took a $1.9 billion hit to its pretax earnings during the second quarter — far better than the $5 billion the automaker had warned it might lose during the eight-week pandemic shutdown.
But by recording a one-time $3.5 billion gain on its investment with self-driving software Argo AI, the automaker managed to post an overall $1.1 billion profit. That gain was recorded as a "special item" on Ford's balance sheet, chief financial officer Tim Stone told investors Thursday. The automaker would have posted a loss without that item....
CAMUS the law worked on by the Trump administration to replace NAFTA is not being respected. Tariffs are a way of replacing some taxes that currently exist. Trump likes tariffs and in this case, enjoyed the idea of limiting Canadian steel.
August 9, 2020
By Keith Lying
Washington — Just one month (click here) after the replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement took effect, the Trump administration is re-imposing a 10% tariff on aluminum imports from Canada.
In a proclamation signed Thursday, President Donald Trump said that he is setting aside a previous commitment to exclude Canada and Mexico from tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum he implemented in 2018 under a section of law that allows the president to unilaterally impose tariffs to protect the nation's security....
Canadian steel and tariffs has been at issue since the beginning.
March 14, 2018 — Prime Minister Justin Trudeaud says Canada won’t be “bowled over” at the NAFTA talks by Trump. Trudeau makes the remarks while visiting steelworkers in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont....
May 31, 2018 — The U.S announces tariffs of 25 per cent on imports of Canadian steel and 10 per cent on aluminum to take effect the next day. Lack of progress in NAFTA renegotiations was cited by Washington as the reason for the tariffs.
In retaliation, Canada later the same day announces plans to impose taxes of up to $16.6 billion on steel, aluminum and hundreds of other products from the United States....
US Steel production for more than a decade:
...Adjusted year-to-date production (click here) through August 1, 2020 was 46,102,000 net tons, at a capability utilization rate of 66.2 percent. That is down 19.9 percent from the 57,553,000 net tons during the same period last year, when the capacity.
Broken down by districts, here's production for the week ending August 1, 2020 in thousands of net tons: North East: 134; Great Lakes: 462; Midwest: 145; Southern: 515 and Western: 72 for a total of 1328....
The only way a tariff applies to any commodity is if the USA cannot sell/use all the steel produced in the USA. Canada is not flooding the market. The USA steel industry doesn't provide all the steel needed in the USA.
Vice President Pence state of Indiana produces USA Steel. There is absolutely no way an ally, like Canada should be receiving tariffs on their steel imports that the USA needs. This tariff is anti-American and needs to be blocked by Congress.
How much steel does the United States import? (click here)
According to a report released by the Commerce Department in February, the U.S. is the largest importer of steel.
"On an average month, China produces nearly as much steel as the U.S. does in a year," the Commerce Department said in a summary of the report.
In 2017, there were 36 million metric tons of steel imported to the U.S., and only 10.1 million metric tons of steel produced, according to the report.
Which country produces the most steel?
China is far and away the world leader in steel production. In 2017, China produced 49.2 percent of the world's steel, with 831.7 million metric tons, WorldSteel reported.
Japan is the second-leading producer, adding 6.2 percent of the world's steel to the marketplace, followed by India, which produces 6 percent, according to WorldSteel.
The U.S. is ranked fourth
