Protectionism dominates Ohio politics

Our local Decision 2024 election coverage is sponsored by the Greater Sandusky Partnership. SANDUSKY — Whether it's Donald Trump campaigning for more tariffs, as he seeks to carry Ohio again, or U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown and U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur supporting "Buy American" laws, protectionism dominates Ohio politics. But critics argue that Rust Belt states, such as Ohio and Michigan, are wielding disproportionate power to impose protectionist policies on the rest of the U.S. that cost consumers and taxpayers. Protectionism is defined as the theory or practice of shielding a country's domestic industries from foreign competition by taxing imports. It has been an issue in current political campaigns, such as the contest matching up Kaptur, the incumbent House member in the Ninth District, against Republican state Rep. Derek Merrin and Libertarian Tom Pruss. "Buy American" and high tariffs sound good to many people, but voters often recoil when they are informed about what it actually means. "You have to pay $10 more for a pair of blue jeans," said Scott Lincicome, a trade expert for the libertarian Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. Tiffs on tariffs Trump, who carried Ohio in 2016 and 2020 and is favored to carry the state again, has during the current campaign advocated tariffs of 10% or 20% on all goods imported into the U.S. and also has advocated 60% tariffs on goods imported from China. The Biden-Harris administration has backed tariffs — a tax on imported goods or services that a particular country's government imposes — in certain cases and has done little to reverse tariffs Trump imposed during his presidency. But Kamala Harris has criticized Trump's proposal, saying across-the-board tariffs would raise prices and are "a sales tax on the American people." Brown and Kaptur, who are both Democrats and both seeking re-election this year, are both backing a bill that would reserve federal biofuels subsidies for fuels made from crops grown by U.S. farmers. "American taxpayers should support American producers, period," Brown said as he explained his new bill to reporters in a conference call Wednesday. Brown and Ohio's Republican U.S. senator, J.D. Vance, now Trump's vice presidential candidate, disagree on many issues. But they both supported new tariffs to protect a Cleveland-Cliffs plant in Weirton, West Virginia, which employs many Ohio workers. It makes tin plate steel used in canned goods, such as food sold in groceries. The bipartisan International Trade Commission rejected the proposed tariffs. The Consumer Brands Association, a trade group, said the proposed tariffs could have raised the cost of canned goods by as much as 30%. Vance joined Brown in denouncing the decision. "Today's news angers me because it was entirely avoidable. Our trade laws exist to ensure a level playing field for our industries and to protect our workers from unfair competition," Vance said when the trade commission decision was handed down. Lincicome, a Cato Institute vice president who deals with trade issues, said it's impossible to know how much of the tariffs backed by Brown and Vance would have been passed on to consumers or absorbed by manufacturers. Still, "you would expect American grocery shoppers to pay more," he said. Who's 'protecting' who? During Brown's conference call, the Register asked Brown if he agreed with Trump's proposal for across-the-board tariffs. Brown declined to offer a position. Brown replied that when he's sitting in a government office working as a senator, he doesn't want to talk about partisan politics but said his focus has been on trade enforcement and on using tariffs selectively. "I will look at any proposal any candidate makes once they're president," Brown said. Noting that Merrin has been spotted wearing "Derek Merrin for Congress A Strong America" T-shirts, a Democratic spokesman, Aidan Johnson, pointed out that the shirts were made in Bangladesh. Merrin actually is working for "a strong Bangladesh," Johnson jibed. Lincicome said tariffs feed inflation because they raise the cost of goods Americans buy at the store. Prices rise for imported goods but also for goods made in the U.S. because manufacturers often have to import the materials they use, he said. Tariffs particularly raise the prices of goods that aren't easily produced in the U.S., such as coffee. They hurt companies by forcing them to shift spending to cover higher prices. And tariffs slow economic growth generally, lowering living standards, he said. Lincicome's organization particularly supports free market policies, but, apparently, his views are backed by most economists. Many citations can be offered to back that assertion. For example, in a 2015 article for The New York Times, Harvard economics professor N. Gregory Mankiw wrote, "Economists are famous for disagreeing with one another, and, indeed, seminars in economics departments are known for their vociferous debate. But economists reach near unanimity on some topics, including international trade." Lincicome said that it has become conventional wisdom in Washington, D.C., that to win a presidential election by getting Electoral College votes, the ticket must carry Rust Belt states in the Midwest where protectionist views are strong. "To win national elections, you have to win a handful of gettable voters in a few states, mainly in the industrial Midwest," he said, summarizing the contention. Political commentator Richard Hanania made a similar point, albeit less tactfully, in "The Conservative Case for Abolishing the Electoral College," a recent article for his Substack newsletter, which suggests that presidential campaigns focus on a few swing states, many in the Midwest, largely ignoring voters in states which will go Democratic or Republican no matter what the candidates do. Hanania argues that many people have left Rust Belt states to move to places with better weather and better job prospects, leaving behind people who "are disproportionately passive and want to be taken care of. If there was no electoral college, then a citizen moving from Wisconsin to Texas doesn't make his vote less valuable. But as things stand, he ceases to matter in presidential elections, and candidates continue to court his poorer and less ambitious brother who stayed home." The people remaining in Rust Belt states "are older, less educated, and less accepting of change. This is why both parties have become more anti-trade in recent years," Hanania writes. Many presidents in recent memory generally backed free trade, including Democrats Barack Obama and Bill Clinton and Republican Ronald Reagan. Lincicome said it's true that American views on trade generally have shifted. "It's certainly not the golden age of American free trade policy," he said. But even in the mid-1990s, when there was generally a free trade consensus, votes to pass trade treaties were pretty close, he said.