The Latest from the Prospect
 â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â
Â
View this email in your browser
**APRIL 17, 2024**
On the Prospect website
Our Uniquely American Drug Shortages
More drugs are in short supply than ever before. We've known the
reason why for a long time: monopolistic middlemen. BY DAVID DAYEN
On the Chopping Block: California's Climate Program for Low-Income
Housing
California will pilot a program to reduce climate emissions from
buildings without displacing tenants. Facing a deficit, Gov. Newsom
proposes slashing its budget by a third. BY AARON CANTÃ
An Implausible Mr. Buckley
A new PBS documentary whitewashes the conservative founder of National
Review. BY RICK PERLSTEIN
Kuttner on TAP
****
****
****
****
****
****
****
**** Steel in His Spine
Biden's latest actions on behalf of a domestic steel and shipbuilding
industry
President Biden doubled down today on his commitments to revive U.S.
manufacturing and American industrial unions. Each action involves
taking an even stronger stance against China's illicit manufacturing
subsidies.
Biden chose the Pittsburgh headquarters of the United Steelworkers to
announce a tripling of U.S. tariff rates against heavily subsidized
Chinese steel and aluminum. Biden also announced that he has directed
the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to launch an investigation
of China's effort to dominate global shipbuilding
.
That investigation is in response to a petition by five unions.
And he added, in a commitment not previewed in the briefing materials
, "U.S. Steel has been an
iconic American company for more than a century. And it's going to
remain an American company. I promise you."
That should effectively kill the Nippon-U.S. Steel deal, which is being
reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. But the
final decision is Biden's.
In 2022
,
China built almost half of all the world's ships. South Korea came in
second with 29 percent, and Japan in third with 17 percent. Meanwhile,
the United States built just 0.13 percent.
The U.S. used to have an extensive program to promote shipbuilding for
both defense and commercial purposes. This was shut down in the 1980s in
the name of imagined free trade, while the world's leading
shipbuilding nations continue to subsidize their industries to this day.
Shipbuilding of course uses a great deal of steel and aluminum, and
creates thousands of good domestic industrial jobs. Though Trump talked
a good game on reviving U.S. shipbuilding, he failed to deliver anything
.
[link removed]
Toward the end of his second term, President Obama's long-range
shipbuilding plan identified a goal of a 355-ship Navy. And in 2017,
Congress passed a law commiting to that target. But Trump's Defense
Department did not even release a plan until after he was defeated for
re-election in 2020. And in the meantime, Trump raided almost a billion
dollars from Navy shipbuilding accounts to help pay for his border wall
.
Biden's action today comes on the heels of an administration
announcement last month
to put $6 billion into 33 green-energy projects in 20 states that will
also create tens of thousands of good manufacturing jobs.
Yesterday, Lael Brainard, head of the National Economic Council, told
reporters
,
"In manufacturing sectors like steel, China's already producing more
than China or the world can easily absorb. China's subsidies and other
forms of support lead to exports flooding global markets at artificially
low prices, undercutting American steel that is cleaner."
Though Biden's actions could help attract voters in key manufacturing
states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio, it's wrong to dismiss these
moves as election-year stunts. Since day one of his presidency, Biden
has been entirely serious about rebuilding U.S. manufacturing,
containing China, embracing unions, and reversing corporate "free
trade," and those commitments have only grown.
Trump and other Republicans claim to be the friends of working people.
But on China, Trump's bluster was not matched by industrial policies
to help Americans.
Not since FDR have industrial workers and unions had a better friend
than Joe Biden. Amid all the noise about polls and perceptions, that
reality needs to shine through.
~ ROBERT KUTTNER
Follow Robert Kuttner on Twitter
[link removed]
To receive this newsletter directly in your inbox, click here to
subscribe.Â
Click to Share this Newsletter
[link removed]
Â
[link removed]
Â
[link removed]
Â
[link removed]
Â
[link removed]
YOUR TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATION SUPPORTS INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM
The American Prospect, Inc., 1225 I Street NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC xxxxxx, United States
Copyright (c) 2024 The American Prospect. All rights reserved.
To opt out of American Prospect membership messaging, click here
.
To manage your newsletter preferences, click here
.
To unsubscribe from all American Prospect emails, including newsletters,
click here
.
