GREG JOHNSON

Opinion | Trump's tariffs threaten Tennessee workers

Greg Johnson
Columnist

Tennessee has worked for more than three decades to build a robust auto manufacturing industry that now employs around 50,000 Tennesseans. President Donald Trump threatens that industry and those workers with his steel and aluminum tariff tantrum.

For 55 years Tennsco in Dickson has made steel shelving from coiled steel to ship nationwide. The company employs 700 Tennesseans who make, collectively, about $35 million per year. If Trump’s tariffs go into effect prices will eventually rise, sales will slow and employees could lose their jobs. 

Car costs will rise if the cost of steel goes up for automakers. If prices go up car buyers will pay more and car sales will slow, putting jobs at risk. Consider: America has fewer than 150,000 steelworkers. Manufacturers that use steel employ 6.5 million and the construction industry employs 6.3 million.

Trump directly threatens America’s industrial renaissance. 

Then there will be indirect effects. The uninformed policy will lead to unintentional but predictable consequences. Jack Daniel’s is a global Tennessee brand, and the European Union promises retaliatory tariffs on liquor. Tennessee companies exported $691 million worth of whiskey in 2015. Again, higher prices will lead to lower sales and put workers at risk.

Greg Johnson, News Sentinel columnist

The damage doesn’t stop in Tennessee. Farmers have taken to television to oppose Trump’s tariff tantrum. 

“The crops that we grow here on this farm are exported across the globe,” Michelle Erickson-Jones, a farmer from Broadview, Montana, says in an ad, according to Politico. “Policies that restrict trade would be devastating for farms like ours. Someday I’d like to pass the farm down to my boys. Mr. President, protect free trade and keep our agriculture economy strong.”

Even some steelworkers could lose their jobs. Novolipetsk Steel PAO imports steel from its parent company in Russia and turns slabs into rolls for American customers like Caterpillar, Deere, Harley-Davidson and Home Depot. A 25 percent jump in steel prices could prove disastrous. The CEO of Novolipetsk said up to 1,200 could lose their jobs.

We could go on and on and on and on about the looming disaster of Trump’s making. And make no mistake – this asinine, ahistorical idea is totally Trump’s.

U.S. Senate candidates in Tennessee joined sitting senators and Gov. Bill Haslam in questioning Trump’s tariffs. Former governor Phil Bredesen, seeking the Democratic nomination, said the tariffs are “a real problem for Tennessee workers.” 

Rep. Marsha Blackburn, the leading Republican Senate candidate, has consistently supported Trump. Not on tariffs. “You do not want to drive up the cost of consumer goods,” Blackburn told reporters last week. “You take a state like ours that has done well with in-sourcing jobs and also with our exports and what you don't want to do is do anything that hurts the economic growth that we've seen.”

Tariffs have never worked. Ever. Trump is on the verge of hurting consumers, automakers, steelworkers, manufacturers and farmers. Worst of all, Trump’s tariffs will harm hardworking Tennessee families.

Greg Johnson’s column appears on Fridays. Follow him on Twitter @jgregjohnson. Visit his Greg Johnson Opinions Page on Facebook. Email him at jgregjohnson@hotmail.com.