Here’s a letter sent last week to the New York Times but not published there.
Editor:
You report that “ArcelorMittal, a European steel maker, is donating tens of millions of dollars of foreign steel for President Trump’s new ballroom” (“White House Secures Foreign Steel for Ballroom Project,” April 8).
“Donating” is a euphemism for “dumping” – the practice of selling foreign-made products in the U.S. at prices lower than those products sell for in their producers’ home countries. Because ArcelorMittal sells its steel in Europe at prices above $0, that company is guilty of dumping.
Given the Trump administration’s insistence on protecting Americans from foreign producers who unfairly threaten American workers, will the Department of Commerce correct this injustice by imposing antidumping duties on ArcelorMittal?
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Professor of Economics
and
Martha and Nelson Getchell Chair for the Study of Free Market Capitalism at the Mercatus Center
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030
