A healthy, growing manufacturing industry is essential for good, middle-class jobs, for broadly shared prosperity in the US, and for long-term economic growth. Manufacturing is essential for national security, health security, and a robust, resilient supply of many essential and non-essential goods.
The US must make the US dollar competitive again, rebalance trade, and support US manufacturing with effective Buy American policies to relaunch manufacturing growth. We must use tariff policies where required against foreign predation, dumping, IP theft, and other anti competitive policies of foreign governments. We must use targeted industrial policies when necessary to support industries deemed essential for national security or economic security.
Ambassador Greer and his team at USTR deserve enormous credit. Rather than trading away the Section 232 protections American producers rely on, they strategically raised the tariff on downstream aluminum products, providing a necessary buffer to offset the difference in the cost of aluminum in Canada versus the United States.
Late on Friday, August 21, the tentative U.S.–Canada trade agreement collapsed, shortly before new tariffs took effect. Market reporting centered on cutting the Section 232 tariff on Canadian primary aluminum to 25 percent, and the concession was poised to reach fabricated aluminum products as well.
![Mexico’s top trade diplomat, Marcelo Ebrard, was in Washington for several days last week [from Aug. 24 to Aug. 26] but quietly left empty handed on Wednesday.](https://prosperousamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/claudia-sheinbaum.jpg)
Mexico’s top trade diplomat, Marcelo Ebrard, was in Washington for several days last week [from Aug. 24 to Aug. 26] but quietly left empty handed on Wednesday.
New data showing a sharp increase in Mexican heavy-duty truck production and exports to the United States underscores the importance of maintaining strong tariff protections that encourage commercial vehicle production and investment in the United States.
President Trump was right to strengthen the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum, and the breakdown of these negotiations should put an end to proposals to weaken them.
If Canada wants a deal, there is no shortage of things Ottawa can put on the table — America’s national security tariffs on aluminum and steel are not among them
