No Result
View All Result
SUBMIT YOUR ARTICLES
  • Login
Thursday, October 23, 2025
TheAdviserMagazine.com
  • Home
  • Financial Planning
    • Financial Planning
    • Personal Finance
  • Market Research
    • Business
    • Investing
    • Money
    • Economy
    • Markets
    • Stocks
    • Trading
  • 401k Plans
  • College
  • IRS & Taxes
  • Estate Plans
  • Social Security
  • Medicare
  • Legal
  • Home
  • Financial Planning
    • Financial Planning
    • Personal Finance
  • Market Research
    • Business
    • Investing
    • Money
    • Economy
    • Markets
    • Stocks
    • Trading
  • 401k Plans
  • College
  • IRS & Taxes
  • Estate Plans
  • Social Security
  • Medicare
  • Legal
No Result
View All Result
TheAdviserMagazine.com
No Result
View All Result
Home Market Research Economy

Unfairly Traded Steel – Econlib

by TheAdviserMagazine
2 months ago
in Economy
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A
Unfairly Traded Steel – Econlib
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LInkedIn


Cleveland-Cliffs Chief Executive Lourenco Goncalves’s invocation of “unfairly traded steel” shows, a contrario, many reasons why free trade is an essential feature of a free society. Mr. Goncalves said that adding tariffs on steel products to tariffs on primary (semi-finished) steel provides (“Trump Leans on National Security to Justify Next Wave of Tariffs,” Wall Street Journal, August 28, 2020)

certainty that the American domestic market will not be undercut by unfairly traded steel embedded in derivative products.

He means that tariffs on primary steel do not suffice because imported steel-containing goods would gain an advantage over their domestically manufactured equivalents.

In passing, let’s note that in the roaring ’60s, it was popular among the ruling establishments of underdeveloped countries, supported by the Western intelligentsia, to impose large tariffs on foreign manufactured goods in order to help domestic manufacturing. Only when, a few decades later, it was realized that such an industrial policy was a fool’s errand, were the poor people of underdeveloped countries able to jump on the bandwagon of free trade and to escape dire poverty.

A basic economic reason why “unfairly traded steel” or the underlying ideal of mercantilist and industrial policy is a fool’s errand is that it presupposes a central economic planner possessing what he does not and cannot possess, that is, the information of time, place, costs, and preferences that is carried by prices determined by supply and demand on free markets. Friedrich Hayek explained that in the 1930s and 1940s (see Hayek’s American Economic Review article “The Use of Knowledge in Society”). A central planner cannot even know many intricate effects of his resource-allocation decisions, especially in a complex economy. Thus, government intervention begets government intervention in the greatest political disorder. That the US government only realized after imposing steel tariffs that they should be imposed on steel products too provides a rather funny illustration.

Another important lesson from protectionism—empirically confirmed a thousand times—is how rent-seeking special interests will try to exploit the general public, or part of it, each time the state offers them a means to do so. The requests for tariffs on steel-containing products are already flooding the government.

A related reason why an expression like “fairly traded steel” has no meaning but exploitative (or illiterate if not, truth be told, clownish) comes from a reflection on the value judgements that necessarily underlie public policy. Rational public policy recommendations require a justification in moral and political philosophy. If fairness is not defined in terms of individual liberty—if what is fair is not simply what is free—it is probably a smokescreen to impose on others the pursuit of the speaker’s self-interest. “Fairly traded steel” is what Mr. Goncalves thinks is fair for the interests of Cleveland-Cliffs’s shareholders besides his own self-interest. It is rare that an individual considers fair something that harms his own interests, and unfair a government subsidy or protection for himself or his organization. “Free” is much easier to define than “fair.” Liberty does not require that the whole world be made “fair” by somebody’s standards.

American steel companies have been protected off and on since the 19th century, and still think that fairness requires American consumers to be forced to pay more for steel products. How fair would it be if Americans were forced, in imitation of Chinese farmers in the heydays of Mao’s Great Leap Forward, to build little blast furnaces in their backyards? (See the featured image of this post.)

What happens to the interests of industrial purchasers of steel, consumers of steel products, and consumers of the goods or services that would be produced if fewer resources (workers, engineers, managers, machines, buildings, electricity, land, etc.) were forcibly diverted to the production of steel? Three ways exist to reconcile or adjust the interests of individuals living in society: customs (the tribe), command (the coercive economic planner or dictator), or the market (free and voluntary cooperation). An interesting and easily accessible book on this is John Hicks, A Theory of Economic History (see also my review in Regulation).

Both historical experience and economic theory teach that an efficient reconciliation of individual interests—“efficient” meaning that it maximizes the formal opportunities of all individuals—can be accomplished by free markets, but not by the diktats of the central planner and his court of lobbyists and sycophants.

We are thus led to discover that “unfairly traded steel” could only make sense in a society where a dictatorial or collectivist political regime imposes on everybody some arbitrary conception of fairness. The alternative is reciprocal individual liberty, of which a manifestation is free trade, internal and external, between individuals or their private organizations. (James Buchanan’s little book Why I, Too, Am Not a Conservative offers a reflection on reciprocity; I reviewed it in Regulation.)

******************************

Chairman Mao visits a homemade blast furnace, 1958Credit: PC-195a-s-013 (chineseposters.net, Private collection)



Source link

Tags: EconlibSteelTradedunfairly
ShareTweetShare
Previous Post

Mortgage Rates Today, Friday, September 5: Heading Lower

Next Post

No Stopping EU Needs War

Related Posts

edit post
Market Talk – October 22, 2025

Market Talk – October 22, 2025

by TheAdviserMagazine
October 22, 2025
0

ASIA: The major Asian stock markets had a negative day today: • NIKKEI 225 decreased 8.27 points or -0.02% to...

edit post
Dem Gerontocrats Try To Crush Graham Platner in Maine Senate Race

Dem Gerontocrats Try To Crush Graham Platner in Maine Senate Race

by TheAdviserMagazine
October 22, 2025
0

The D.C. consensus is becoming clear, the gerontocrats, led by Chuck Schumer, are on the verge of crushing the pesky...

edit post
New Rothbard Letters Show His Early Opposition to both Nixon and Reagan

New Rothbard Letters Show His Early Opposition to both Nixon and Reagan

by TheAdviserMagazine
October 22, 2025
0

What is the Mises Institute? The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in...

edit post
Profits are Social Authentication – Econlib

Profits are Social Authentication – Econlib

by TheAdviserMagazine
October 22, 2025
0

In his 1980 book, Knowledge and Decisions, Thomas Sowell highlights the importance of social authentication and verification processes. Does this...

edit post
Links 10/22/2025 | naked capitalism

Links 10/22/2025 | naked capitalism

by TheAdviserMagazine
October 22, 2025
0

Working Cats: A Brief History of Human-Feline Partnerships Earth Food Life Brainwave study sheds light on cause of ‘hearing voices’...

edit post
India, U.S. near trade deal with major tariff cuts, reduced Russian oil purchases

India, U.S. near trade deal with major tariff cuts, reduced Russian oil purchases

by TheAdviserMagazine
October 22, 2025
0

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Oval Office of the White House in...

Next Post
edit post
No Stopping EU Needs War

No Stopping EU Needs War

edit post
Digital asset reporting and compliance in 2025

Digital asset reporting and compliance in 2025

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
edit post
77-year-old popular furniture retailer closes store locations

77-year-old popular furniture retailer closes store locations

October 18, 2025
edit post
Pennsylvania House of Representatives Rejects Update to Child Custody Laws

Pennsylvania House of Representatives Rejects Update to Child Custody Laws

October 7, 2025
edit post
What to Do When a Loved One Dies in North Carolina

What to Do When a Loved One Dies in North Carolina

October 8, 2025
edit post
Probate vs. Non-Probate Assets: What’s the Difference?

Probate vs. Non-Probate Assets: What’s the Difference?

October 17, 2025
edit post
California Attorney Pleads Guilty For Role In 2M Ponzi Scheme

California Attorney Pleads Guilty For Role In $912M Ponzi Scheme

October 15, 2025
edit post
Baby Boomers Are Flocking to This Florida Town — but Not for the Weather

Baby Boomers Are Flocking to This Florida Town — but Not for the Weather

October 9, 2025
edit post
8 Manipulative Dating Games That Value Money and Clout Over Love and Self-Respect

8 Manipulative Dating Games That Value Money and Clout Over Love and Self-Respect

0
edit post
CyberArk’s valuation up to b as Palo Alto stock gains

CyberArk’s valuation up to $27b as Palo Alto stock gains

0
edit post
2025 Technology Sector Stocks List

2025 Technology Sector Stocks List

0
edit post
Links 10/22/2025 | naked capitalism

Links 10/22/2025 | naked capitalism

0
edit post
FCA Sues Justin Sun-Linked Crypto Exchange HTX for Unlawful Promotions

FCA Sues Justin Sun-Linked Crypto Exchange HTX for Unlawful Promotions

0
edit post
How to bridge the gap until an inheritance

How to bridge the gap until an inheritance

0
edit post
High-end housing segment remains hot this Diwali even as overall sales cool off, says Samir Jasuja

High-end housing segment remains hot this Diwali even as overall sales cool off, says Samir Jasuja

October 22, 2025
edit post
Bitcoin’s Next Bull Phase Could Be Near As BTC-Stablecoin Ratio Plummets

Bitcoin’s Next Bull Phase Could Be Near As BTC-Stablecoin Ratio Plummets

October 22, 2025
edit post
Tesla targets 3M vehicle production within 24 months as full self-driving expansion accelerates (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Tesla targets 3M vehicle production within 24 months as full self-driving expansion accelerates (NASDAQ:TSLA)

October 22, 2025
edit post
The Evolution of Resale and Recommerce in Retail

The Evolution of Resale and Recommerce in Retail

October 22, 2025
edit post
XRP Derivatives Expand on Bybit—Futures and Options Fuel Market Momentum

XRP Derivatives Expand on Bybit—Futures and Options Fuel Market Momentum

October 22, 2025
edit post
Shutdown hits breakaway advisors starting RIAs

Shutdown hits breakaway advisors starting RIAs

October 22, 2025
The Adviser Magazine

The first and only national digital and print magazine that connects individuals, families, and businesses to Fee-Only financial advisers, accountants, attorneys and college guidance counselors.

CATEGORIES

  • 401k Plans
  • Business
  • College
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Economy
  • Estate Plans
  • Financial Planning
  • Investing
  • IRS & Taxes
  • Legal
  • Market Analysis
  • Markets
  • Medicare
  • Money
  • Personal Finance
  • Social Security
  • Startups
  • Stock Market
  • Trading

LATEST UPDATES

  • High-end housing segment remains hot this Diwali even as overall sales cool off, says Samir Jasuja
  • Bitcoin’s Next Bull Phase Could Be Near As BTC-Stablecoin Ratio Plummets
  • Tesla targets 3M vehicle production within 24 months as full self-driving expansion accelerates (NASDAQ:TSLA)
  • Our Great Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use, Legal Notices & Disclosures
  • Contact us
  • About Us

© Copyright 2024 All Rights Reserved
See articles for original source and related links to external sites.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Financial Planning
    • Financial Planning
    • Personal Finance
  • Market Research
    • Business
    • Investing
    • Money
    • Economy
    • Markets
    • Stocks
    • Trading
  • 401k Plans
  • College
  • IRS & Taxes
  • Estate Plans
  • Social Security
  • Medicare
  • Legal

© Copyright 2024 All Rights Reserved
See articles for original source and related links to external sites.