hi clo,
i get the point you are making about trump and consistency. his voters are not getting what they voted for.
at least, i hope so!
my view is that generally-speaking, unless a country is dumping steel (the chinese have been), you buy the steel that costs less so that taxpayers don't have to pay more than they ought. if us steel workers cannot meet that price, they shouldn't be producing steel (beyond the minimum strategic defensive needs).
all things equal, there's no need for the us government to protect us companies from global markets. in that sense, republicans in congress are consistent with their long-held principles.
protectionism was also one reason i opposed trump. if treaties are properly drafted, international trade generates wealth.
a country may need to invest in retraining and new ideas to replace opportunities in declining industries. but subsidising businesses in fading markets is better politics than economics. the tax payer carries the burden of the inefficiency.
strangely enough, trump's ideas about this are more like those i recognise as socialist solutions. and i no more support socialism than puritan capitalism.
i may have inadvertently made a point with which csl agrees. apologies, csl. you may have to hold your nose.
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