G 20 Comes to MIlwaukee 9 30 2026

The G 20 is going to be here.  In the Washington Post  was this:

“More than two dozen countries agreed to a new framework Wednesday aimed at fighting a global glut in steelmaking.”

“The plan encourages countries to reduce or eliminate subsidies that contribute to excess steel supply and to share data on their steel-supply chains. It also says countries will take “evidence-based actions” to address the effects of excess capacity, including tariffs.”

“The framework came out of a meeting of the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity — a group of 28 countries including the United States, but not including China — ahead of Wednesday’s G-20 Trade Ministerial in Milwaukee.”

Washington Post 9 30 2026

So the key to this is China is being singled out as having state subsidies for steel making.  And capitalists cannot compete.  The accusation is they are causing a glut in steel production,  and capitalists are unable to compete.

Which could be partially true.  But a capitalist could say he will just take less surplus value from the commodity he is producing.  He sells the commodity for less value than it is worth,  for whatever reason, cornering the market, favorable conditions for production, etc., yet still makes a profit. Theoretically this gives him more traction to sell for cheaper than if the commodity was sold at its value.    

So the question is whether or not China is selling their steel for the value it costs to produce it.  And apparently because it is connected to the state, if the state does not sell the commodity at its value, capitalists feel threatened. 

At least that‘s how the argument goes.  But in Washington Post character, we continue in the article to find this:

“China and some other countries have flooded the global market with steel, creating a challenge for other steel industries. President Donald Trump implemented 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum when he came back into office and doubled the rate to 50 percent, hoping to protect U.S. steel makers.”

“Tariffs, trade deals and favorable tax treatment have boosted the U.S. steel industry, U.S. Trade Ambassador Jamieson Greer said in a statement encouraging partner countries to “adopt similar policies.””

““Every country will do what they think is appropriate,” he told reporters Wednesday when asked whether most countries attending the G-20 Trade Ministerial had agreed to boost tariffs on Chinese steel.”

Post ibid.

Here we come full circle.  Now we have capitalists not taxing industry, using tariffs, and trade deals to compete with steel they cannot themselves produce and make a profit.  The key here is tariffs and not taxing steel are little different than subsidies.  Both subsidies and tariffs are not exactly “free market capitalism”.  Tax may seem illogical on steel, but let’s remember America has a tax on pens and paper; it’s called sales tax.  You can’t just opt in or out of it.  You have to pay, and  it is a cost of production.

So getting out of it interferes with the price of the commodity, in this case steel.  

I’m not arguing for taxes, but this is sort of like subsidizing industry.  On top of it, you apply a 50% tariff on imported steel.  Now competition really looks a lot like its opposite, monopoly capitalism.  The value of  Canadian steel, and Chinese steel, now face competition with  what is obviously no different than Chinese  subsidies.

And this comes from a supposedly free market capitalist  American Democratic Republic.

The contradiction could not be clearer.  The Washington Post is not to blame for being misleading.  Rather it is in the minds of capitalists we see these contradictions play out.

The shift from Integrated MIlls to Electric Arc Furnaces probably has most to do with China having cheaper steel.  American mills still use coking technology, the electric arc mills do not; instead they use recycled steel.  If there is ever going to be competition, instead of monopoly capitalism, it is going to be recycled steel that is competitive on an open market.

Instead this form of imperialism, the tariffs, subsidy tax breaks, etc, will continue to favor 20th century industry.  

The G 20 knows this.  That they came to these  conclusions in a state 36 years into recycling is strange. Milwaukee’s steel is competitive.  So is its aluminum.  It is due to recycling, something Milwaukee is good at.  

Instead the conclusion China is somehow to blame for being able to produce cheap  steel that is glutting the market looks ridiculous.  So far the G 20 looks like a social for capitalists, not a real effort to decide what to do now that 20th century steel making is no longer competitive.

Nicholas Jay Boyes

Milwaukee Wisconsin

American Democratic Republic

9 30 2026 

Renewal of Tariff Money to Importers. Trump Returns the Money. 4 25 2026

We began getting used to the announcement of tariffs on social media by Donald Trump, often in the middle of the night on his website.  He used tariffs to punish or reward other countries, related to political actions, for instance when he imposed tariffs on Brazil due to the treatment of Jair Bolsonaro.

He later backed out of that one, but the system was yet intact for Trump to use tariffs to gain power in international relations and communication. 

“On February 20, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump that tariffs imposed by the President under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) were unlawful. The Court affirmed that Congress, not the Executive Branch, holds the exclusive authority to impose tariffs. This decision invalidates roughly $166 billion in collected duties. “

Google tariffs supreme court

It was a pivotal decision by a court that in many people’s eyes was totally subordinate to Trump, as he appointed 3 of the justices when he was dictator, ruling without a majority.

This led shortly in time to the effort to get the money spent from tariffs back to companies who paid the tax.  

“April 20 (Reuters) – The refund system set up to allow companies to recover illegally collected tariffs from ​the U.S. government went live on Monday as thousands of companies rushed to file claims.”

Reuters Article continues

“Companies contacted by Reuters in recent ​days expressed concerns about the durability of the new system, created by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in response to a court order that it prepare to return up to $166 billion to importers.”

“”I’m ​relieved that the portal seems to be functioning properly,” said Cassie Abel, CEO of Idaho-based outerwear company Wild Rye. Abel had her customs broker make the submission, which she said cost her $250 for the first phase of the filing.”

“The U.S. Supreme Court in February struck down the tariffs President Donald Trump pursued under a law meant for use in national emergencies, handing the Republican president a stinging defeat.”

“In court filings, Customs officials said as ​of April 9, some 56,497 importers had completed the necessary steps to receive electronic refunds, an amount totaling $127 billion, or more than three-quarters of the total eligible to be refunded. More ​than 330,000 importers paid the tariffs at issue on 53 million shipments of imported goods.”

Reuters

https://www.reuters.com/business/tariff-refund-system-launches-thousands-companies-file-claims-2026-04-20/

The 166 billion dollars is not a small sum,  it comes from the surplus value.  

“Through July, DOGE said it has saved taxpayers $52.8 billion by canceling contracts”… 

“DOGE’s latest figures on contract cuts ticked up to $54.2 billion in an update posted on Tuesday.

Politico https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/12/trump-doge-contract-claims-savings-inflation-00498178

Incidentally the chart on politico’s article is worth looking at when it comes to what really transpired. 

Anyhow the various sums involved, in the chart for instance Doge claims 145 billion saved due to terminations, is still less than what the state has to come up with to pay back the 166 billion dollars it wrongly took as tax from importers.

This money will have to be raised as taxes, unless we are to believe the government was holding it not spending it.  I haven’t heard of a special fund from the tariff money, a savings account.  Rather it will come from the surplus value, and in the end the consumer will have paid this 166 billion dollars, although some of the money was returned to the importer.

I guess the importer could attempt to reimburse the customer, but it has yet to specifically occur.  I think most importers are just feeling lucky to have gotten back some lost profit, which Trump’s tariffs had cost them.  

The commodities the consumers are consuming could be made to be worth less, if the importers would return the money to consumers.  But in reality, as said before, most likely the consumer will see little or no benefit from this return of tariff money to the importers. 

At best Trump could say it was easier to pay off the 166 billion dollars, as Doge had saved 145 billion dollars, and that was close to 166 billion dollars.  Well, about 11 billion dollars less, but whatever.  Perhaps this will be of some consolation to his bourgeoisie, who so fervently believed in Trump to keep non metric American production competitive with the rest of the world’s commodities with taxes on imports.  

 In the end this exercise shows that Congress raises taxes, not the president.   And Congress also decides how tax will be paid, as import taxes, tariffs, etc.  The Supreme Court made this argument when they took away Trump’s favorite tool, tariffs for political purposes.

It seems to be holding; Trump has not been threatening tariffs constantly after the Court ruling.  And the money the tariffs generated is being returned to the people who had to pay it, the  importers. In the end it is a rare case of justice being done, a victory of the workers. Trump now has to pay back the money he illegally extorted in his sorry adventure with tariffs.  

Nicholas Jay Boyes

Milwaukee Wisconsin

American Democratic Republic

4 25 2026