• Skip to main content

    Government/Policy

    June 29, 2025

    Leibowitz on Trade: Who is winning the tariff debate?

    Written by Lewis Leibowitz

    Most economists will tell you that universal tariffs will result in inflation and reduce demand, causing a recession or worse. (After all, this is what happened in the 1930s). It is a rare product that is so essential that demand will not go down if prices go up.

    The Trump team thinks that the US agreed too quickly to reduce tariffs, especially in the Uruguay Round, a series of global trade negotiations conducted between 1986 and 1994. Trump wants essentially universal tariffs, and he expects other major trading nations to follow suit.

    Lewis Leibowitz, SMU Contributor

    Lewis Leibowitz

    Lewis Leibowitz, owner of the Law Office of Lewis E. Leibowitz, practices in the areas of international trade law, customs law, and international commercial transactions. He represents clients before all federal courts and agencies dealing with international trade matters. Mr. Leibowitz advises and assists clients in diverse matters including trade remedies, customs, foreign-trade zones and free trade agreements, trade negotiations, and related matters. He can be reached at lewis.leibowitz@lellawoffice.com.

    Read more from Lewis Leibowitz

    Latest in Government/Policy

    Price on trade: Steel industry trick-or-treat

    It’s the scariest time of year in Washington, D.C. … election season. The city is a veritable haunted house of prognostication and speculation as everyone tries to discern which way the howling wind will blow. We’ll let the fortune tellers and prediction markets guess the outcomes of the midterms. What we do know is this: the steel industry has experienced its share of tricks and treats over the past few months. Below are a few notable steel tricks and treats this Halloween season.

    Leibowitz: The dilemmas facing primary aluminum and BOF steel

    Earlier this month, retired General David Petraeus, whose resume is as impressive as any I’ve seen, held a fireside chat at the National Press Club with Century Aluminum CEO Jesse Gary and Mark Duffy, the president and CEO of the American Primary Aluminum Association. During that widely reported chat, retired Gen. Petraeus stated that the US was not militarily ready for a conflict. Because the event concentrated on aluminum, and primary aluminum at that, his remarks hit harder than I think the full facts warrant.

    Canada, Ontario commit billions to steel and automotive industries

    The Canadian federal government and the Ontario provincial government have announced five-year commitments totaling CA$5.22 billion (US$3.72 billion) for a Joint Steel Action Fund. That funding comes alongside up to an additional CA$2.5 billion over two years for large-scale automotive capital projects. The federal and provincial governments said the package is intended to support domestic steel production, automotive manufacturing, and the transition to connected and electric vehicles.

    Commerce lowers Mexico’s dumping rate in CORE case

    The US Department of Commerce has reduced the anti-dumping duty on corrosion-resistant steel (CORE) for some Mexican producers after a court order. On remand from the Court of International Trade (CIT), Commerce agreed that the record did not show that Galvasid SA de CV’s US customers separately negotiated or paid freight or insurance. The agency therefore removed the adjustment and recalculated the margin. As a result, the agency lowered Galvasid’s coated steel dumping rate to 14.54%, from 24.05%. The all-others rate is now 14.29%, down from 17.42%. Ternium’s rate is unchanged at 14.17%.