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What products are making all the retaliatory tariff lists?

We looked through the lists of tariffs Mexico, Canada and the European Union are imposing on the United States in response to the 25 percent steel and 10 percent aluminum tariffs. And we found some commonalities: orange juice, whiskey, motor boats and kitchenware among them. So why these products? We talked with Wendy Cutler, vice […]

For this Canadian company, tariffs "hit from both ends"

Jun 5, 2018
"We should all be working together" says Paul McGrath of JEM Strapping Systems.
Workers remove a coil from the production line for quality-control testing during steel production at the NLMK Indiana steel mill in March in Portage, Indiana.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Filing for a tariff exemption? You probably need a lawyer

Jun 5, 2018
The cost of legal fees has come up among many we’ve interviewed about the process of applying for exemptions from steel and aluminum tariffs from the Department of Commerce. Kate Karol, counsel at Butzel Long in Detroit, has been working with several clients on their applications and said the people at her firm have spent […]

As the steel tariff exemption process drags on, optimism wanes

Jun 4, 2018
An American tire cord producer is frustrated by President Trump's 25 percent levy and an objection to his exemption application.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross testifies about U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing in Washington, D.C.,  in March.
AFP Photo / Saul Loeb

Fears of a trade war rekindled

Jun 1, 2018
We ended the week with a strong jobs report. But what about wage growth?
Work gloves are viewed on the factory floor at Quadrant, a high-end plastic processor, in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 2011.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

With tariffs on our closest allies, what kind of trade policy is this?

Jun 1, 2018
It's "a steady policy of throwing stink bombs into rooms, having the room clear out and then saying, 'OK, let's sit down and talk.'"
Mexico announced sweeping retaliatory tariffs on a host of U.S. goods Thursday after the United States slapped steep tariffs on steel and aluminum from Mexico, Canada and the European Union. Above, a man works in a steel distribution factory in Monterrey in northern Mexico on May 31.
JULIO CESAR AGUILAR/AFP/Getty Images

Qualcomm CEO isn't too worried about our trade war with China

May 23, 2018
"We actually feel like we have a seat at the table on both sides of the trade dispute," Steven Mollenkopf says.
“There is a responsibility to make sure that the technologies that you create have the proper technology built in so that it's used appropriately,” Qualcomm CEO Steven Mollenkopf says. Above, he speaks at a tech conference in October.
GLENN CHAPMAN/AFP/Getty Images

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For scrap brokers, the trade war is not "on hold"

May 21, 2018
One broker says he'll have to do "a lot of juggling" if China won' import U.S. scrap.
Scrap metal to be used in steel production is piled at the Zhong Tian (Zenith) Steel Group Corp. in 2016 in Changzhou, Jiangsu.
Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Farmers have been relying on the high value of their land to get them through years of low commodity prices

May 18, 2018
Land accounts for 80 percent of farm assets according to the Department of Agriculture. So farmers are using their land as collateral to face low commodity prices, but the amount of production that farmers need to service their debt is rising.  Click the audio player above to hear the full story. 

Tariff exemption applications move through review process

May 17, 2018
Bill Brebrick of Zapp Precision Wire and Joel Johnson of Borusan Mannesmann submitted applications to the Department of Commerce for exemptions from steel tariffs President Trump implemented in March. The applications were open for public comment for 30 days on regulations.gov. Now, Johnson’s and Brebrick’s applications will be reviewed by the Department of Commerce, which […]