Isn't this the like 10th time the US has banned Chinese steel?
Obama put a tariff on Chinese steel, effectively banning it.
Trump put a tariff on Chinese steel, effectively banning it.
Now Biden plans to put a tariff on Chinese steel, effectively banning it.
Its kinda like how the US banned narcotics. Even when enforced by the US Customs, Coast Guard, FBI, DEA, Sheriffs, Police, and Steven Seagal. The drugs are still on the streets. When Americans are addicted to stuff, the US always fails to ban that stuff. With this, we can kinda conclude that cheap Chinese steel is addictive to US industries and businesses. Let the US govt ban all they like. Who knows, Americans might even resort to smuggling in cheap Chinese steel one day, than to buy legal but expensive US steel. God bless America!
I'm sure the next step is to put Chinese steel on the entity list so that TSMC and Nvidia can't supply 5nm semiconductors to Chinese steel producers.
Because according to America, everything China produces relies on advanced semiconductors, meaning China will be unable to make steel without access to Nvidia's latest graphic card.
How can the ASML machines that China needs to manufacture steel function without 5nm and Nvidia graphic cards? According to China watchers, it's impossible.
Indeed. The Americans will want to put practically every competitive Chinese exports on the entity list. Maybe canned seafood is next in line. TSMC, Nvidia, AMD, and Intel are banned from supplying top-of-the-line chips, processors, or graphic cards to Chinese canneries. Then China watchers in Bloomberg will say that the Chinese canning industry is gonna collapse because of a shortage of US advanced semiconductors, not sardines.
Meanwhile in China, advanced US semiconductors could still be available via the black market, or via legal loopholes. Smuggled in by non-other than opportunistic Americans or Taiwanese. Willing buyer, willing seller.