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World News See other World News Articles Title: The first layoffs from Trump’s tariffs are here The first layoffs from Trump’s tariffs are here Heather Long 9 hrs ago © Associated Press President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive to greet King Abdullah II of Jordan and Queen Rania at the White House, Monday, June 25, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) The first casualties of President Trump's trade war are 60 workers at Mid-Continent Nail, America's largest nail manufacturer. They lost their jobs on June 15 at a factory in a part of Missouri that voted overwhelmingly for Trump. The whole company could be out of business by Labor Day. This is a potential game changer in Trump's trade strategy, especially if it marks the start of more companies announcing layoffs. On Monday, Harley-Davidson said it will be moving some “production” offshore because of the trade war (Europe hit Harley with a 31 percent tariff in response to Trump's steel tariffs on Europe). Harley won't confirm if jobs are leaving the United States, but the union representing many Harley workers, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, is worried. The Trump administration has argued that these tariffs will save jobs and that the cost to America will be minor. But now there are real job losses. Now there is a human face on the pain that so many trade experts have been warning about. The political pressure on Trump to stop the tariffs (especially on America's allies) is likely to escalate. In Missouri, a state with a close U.S. Senate race, the layoffs are already becoming a hot election issue. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) is planning a rally by the nail plant on Friday. Mid-Continent Nail blames the layoffs on Trump's tariffs and the company says all 500 employees could lose their jobs by Labor Day. The next round of cuts could come in a matter of days. The trouble for the company started at the end of May when Trump put a hefty 25 percent tariff on steel imports from Mexico and Canada. Mid-Continent had been importing steel from Mexico that American workers would then turn into nails. After the tariff, the company was forced to hike its prices and customers fled. Orders are a mere 30 percent of what they were a year ago, said George Skarich, the vice president of sales. He suspects many customers are now buying Chinese nails. “There's a lot of uncertainty and a ton of fear in Poplar Bluff,” said Skarich. He voted for Trump and says he's “disappointed” and “sad” at what's happening to a town and company he loves. If Skarich had a minute with Trump, he says he'd tell him these tariffs aren't hurting China, they are hurting Missouri. The workers who lost their jobs on June 15 were contract workers paid about $10 an hour, but the next round of layoffs will hit longtime employees, many of whom are making $13 to $14 an hour plus benefits. That's a middle-class job in Poplar Bluff where the median income is just over $31,000 a year. Trump campaigned on “jobs, jobs, jobs.” He promised to be the “greatest jobs producer God ever created.” He and his team regularly argue that the tariffs are going to save jobs and even bring jobs back from overseas. But the vast majority of economists and business leaders have warned that many more jobs are likely to be lost than saved. The Tax Foundation predicts 48,585 job losses from the tariffs Trump has already enacted on imports of washing machines, solar panels, steel, aluminum and $50 billion in Chinese products. That figure would soar to over 250,000 job losses if Trump moves forward with tariffs on another $200 billion of Chinese products, the Tax Foundation said. Poster Comment: It is a slippery slope, but the whole idea of tariff's is to protect the U.S. economy and jobs. If foreign producers want access to our markets, they must pay a tariff to do so. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 3.
#1. To: BTP Holdings (#0)
That is just one of many lies by the SOB.
It is easy to call POTUS an SOB. Do some reading up on the subject first before you start throwing barbs. ;) About 1,400 positions were on the chopping block, per company estimates. Over the past year, Trump has claimed he could maintain at least 1,100 of those jobs in the United States. But on Monday, the company gave official notice to Indiana officials that it would start laying off workers at the factory on July 20 and keep slashing staff until approximately 800 factory employees remain.
There are no replies to Comment # 3. End Trace Mode for Comment # 3.
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