Trump's Tariffs Find Friends in Minnesota's North, Foes in South

[question everything]

VIRGINIA, Minn.— Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel imports into the U.S. marked a victory for the Mesabi Iron Range region of northern Minnesota, boosting the prospects of a Republican congressional candidate. The region’s mines are ramping up capacity to meet growing demand for ore in steel mills as far away as Lake Erie.

At the same time, Mr. Trump’s tariffs—and the resulting retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports by other countries—are creating concerns for Republican candidates in other districts, hurting farmers concentrated in the southern half of the state. The duties are also worrying Best Buy Co . , Target Corp . and other politically connected businesses based around Minneapolis and St. Paul.

“Your Iron Range up north is pretty happy with the tariffs right now,” said Republican Rep. Tom Emmer, whose district is in the center of the state, near Minneapolis. “Your ag folks are pretty nervous.”

Minnesota is a major battleground in November’s midterm elections, which will decide who controls Congress. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report identifies four Minnesota districts—two currently held by Republicans and two by Democrats—as tossups. One of those is the sprawling northern district that contains the Iron Range and the port city of Duluth, from which ore is shipped to mills around the Great Lakes.

(snip)

A boon to some, higher steel prices are worrying other businesses in Minnesota, including Midsota Manufacturing Inc., a custom builder of trailers that has asked farmers and other customers to pay surcharges as a result of higher steel prices. “I’ve got to go to them and tell them you’re going to have to pay another $1,500 for this trailer,” said Midsota co-owner Joel Bauer, who said he was previously “apolitical” but recently raised the issue with Mr. Emmer, his representative in the House.

(snip)

In a measure of the region’s improving fortunes, Cleveland-Cliffs sold iron-ore pellets at more than $100 a ton in the first quarter, 32% more than a year earlier. Most Minnesotans link the reopening of mining operations to trade cases greenlighted near the end of the Obama administration, in addition to Mr. Trump’s broader steel tariffs.

(snip)

“Tariffs can be effective, but you can’t use a sledgehammer—you have to use a scalpel to make sure the American economy survives the surgery,” said Michelle Lee, a Democrat and former television journalist running for a House seat. One poll shows Ms. Lee neck-and-neck for the Democratic nomination with Joe Radinovich, a former aide to retiring Democratic Rep. Rick Nolan.

(snip)

Mr. Paulsen joined Mr. Lewis and 40 other lawmakers who wrote to Mr. Lighthizer with concerns that tariffs on components used by Medtronic PLC and Boston Scientific Corp . will lead to retaliation against the companies’ medical devices, hurting their growth opportunities in shipping devices to China’s aging population.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/trumps-tariffs-find-friends-in-minnesotas-north-foes-in-south-1531906201 (paid subscription)

[3Hotdogs]

1. I guess the question is, are there more mine workers or farmers?

[question everything]

2. Where the miners are has been a Democratic district for years

it may now flip Republicans.

The farmers, like the rest of the base nationwide are not swayed.

From the story:

Soybean-and-corn farmer Keith Schrader said the escalation of the trade conflict with China in May depressed prices and soured this year’s outlook at his 5,000-acre operation. Beijing recently imposed 25% tariffs on soybeans.

“When the trade stuff hit—boom—we went back to unprofitability,” Mr. Schrader said. As a staunch Republican, he said he would probably still vote again for Rep. Jason Lewis, seen as one of the most vulnerable Republicans up for reelection this year.

Mr. Schrader said he has “run on periods of thin margins my whole life.”

[dflprincess]

3. My aunt, now in her 90s, has lived her whole life in farm country

She commented recently that she never understood farmers voting Republican and, according to her, most of them were voting Republican even in the 1930s while FDR was saving their farms. (Not all of them, there are a few like her late in-laws who never voted anything but DFL because they kept their farm because of Roosevelt.)

You just can't fix stupid.