Overview
The Pipeline & Gas Journal quoted Steptoe partners Marc Spitzer and Tom Trendl in two articles titled “Historic Perspective on US Protective Tariffs” and “Metal Import Tariffs: Unwanted ‘Help’ for Pipelines.” Spitzer and Trendl, energy and international trade lawyers respectively, conclude that history doesn’t bode well for the Trump administration’s imposition of protective tariffs on goods (steel and aluminum) from nations (China).
Trendl says that George W. Bush’s administration imposed Section 201 global tariffs on steel from the rest of the world. “The outcry from this among end-users, such as car manufacturers, refrigerator manufacturers, and all the people who use the product fomented a large negative response and it didn’t take Bush very long to rescind the 201 duties, claiming that he got something, but it didn’t last long.”
“I’m an old-school Republican who likes free trade,” Spitzer says. “Based on what Tom is saying there is a little bit of New York bravado going on here with the Trump administration tariffs.”
The full articles can be read at Pipeline & Gas Journal (1) and Pipeline & Gas Journal (2).
