Trump’s trade wars will hurt West Virginia’s coal miners

[wvit1001]

New tariffs pose yet another challenge to state's coal industry.



Overseas markets have been one of the few bright spots for the U.S. coal industry, especially as demand for coal used by U.S. electric power generators and steelmakers has been on a downward trajectory this decade.

But the international trade wars started by President Donald Trump do not bode well for an industry he has promised on several occasions to revive.

U.S. tariffs on imports and retaliatory measures by other countries are likely to slow down the growth of coal exports, especially for coal producers in the Appalachian region, according to a new West Virginia University report.

Deteriorating trade relations between the United States and its trading partners over the past several months “pose an appreciable risk” to West Virginia’s coal producers going forward, researchers at West Virginia University’s Bureau of Business & Economic Research concluded in their latest annual coal production outlook titled “Coal Production in West Virginia: 2018-2040.”

Earlier this summer, Trump announced tariffs on $50 billion in products from China. In response, China proposed tariffs on $50 billion in U.S. products, with coal and natural gas high on the list. Coal exports to China totaled 3.2 million tons in 2017, up from zero in 2015 and 2016, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

https://thinkprogress.org/trumps-trade-wars-will-hurt-west-virginias-coal-miners-new-report-finds-4db66c829eb9/

[Truman62]

Gonna see LESS of this...



and MORE of this!

[wvit1001]

If there's one demographic that deserves the least amount of sympathy, it has to be the whiny coal miners who demanded that America compensate for their lack of foresight to look around them and see that it is indeed the 21st Century and maybe they should have taken those job retraining offers the Dems had been handing out for decades.

A lot of the current crop of coal miners would have been called scabs by the miners of a few decades ago.

[Truman62]

Coal has been dying for 50 years and they STILL don't have the brains to get retrained and move on...

[Dan]

Trump’s trade wars will hurt West Virginia’s coal miners

You mean China's trade war on us.  They are the ones taxing West Virginia coal ... not Trump.

[wvit1001]

$43,385

According to the Census ACS 1-year survey, the median household income for West Virginia was $43,385 in 2016, the latest figures available. Compared to the median US household income, West Virginia median household income is $14,232 lower.

[wvit1001]

they weren't putting tariffs on American coal until trump started his tariffs were they dan?   actually they were looking at buying more coal.


June 15, 2018

Just two weeks ago, the Chinese government was said to be considering buying more American coal as part of an effort to narrow its trade deficit with the U.S. Now, in retaliation for President Donald Trump’s duties on $50 billion worth of Chinese imports, it’s looking to impose tariffs on imports of U.S. coal, along with a raft of other American goods.


https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-15/china-s-taxing-america-s-coal-just-as-it-was-looking-to-buy-more