国际英语新闻:All U.S. states will see net job loss due to announced tariffs: study

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- All U.S. states plus the District of Columbia will see net job loss as a result of the federal government's newly imposed tariffs on imports from U.S. trading partners as well as retaliations by the affected countries, a recent study has shown.

The study, titled Estimated Impacts of Tariffs on the U.S. Economy and Workers, was compiled by Trade Partnership Worldwide, LLC, an international trade and economic consulting firm, and commissioned by Tariffs Hurt the Heartland, a pro-free trade advocacy group. It was released last Wednesday.

Total net employment decline in all U.S. states could hit 943,700, with California being hit the hardest and losing 112,900 jobs, showed the study, which drew the conclusion based on what it calls a "base scenario."

According to the study, California was trailed by Texas, Florida, New York and Illinois in the list. The numbers of laid-off workers in the four states related to the imposition of duties were projected to be 85,100, 61,000, 58,800 and 33,500, respectively.

The base scenario, as was explained in the study, "examines the impacts of all tariffs (U.S. and retaliatory) and quotas in effect or announced as of November 1, 2018."

It grouped together U.S. tariffs of 25 percent imposed on steel and aluminum imports from a wide range of U.S. trading partners, and retaliatory tariffs by the affected countries on selected U.S. goods.

It also took into account U.S. tariffs on 250 billion dollars' worth of Chinese imports and China's retaliatory tariffs on U.S. merchandise.

"Overall, 126,900 workers gain jobs as a result of the tariffs; however, 1,061,400 lose jobs -- more than eight for every job gained," the study said, adding that the tariffs would cost the U.S. economy 490,900 dollars for every job gained.

"Our hope is that the administration understands they are playing with fire," said Charles Boustany, the group's spokesman and a former congressman. "It's time for the administration to take tariff increases off the table for good, end the threat of new tariffs and finally bring an end to the crippling tariffs we are facing right now."

The study also calculated a worst-case scenario, which added to the base scenario 25 percent tariffs on all the remaining goods the United States imports from China, plus expected retaliation from China.

In that case, the study said, the tariffs would reduce the U.S. gross domestic product by 1 percent a year, cost a family of four 2,300 dollars a year and produce a net loss of 2.1 million U.S. jobs.

In Minnesota, which according to the study might lose 16,100 jobs in the base scenario, "soybean farmers who depend on sales to China are suffering from a double whammy of natural and man-made problems," the state's largest newspaper, Star Tribune, reported.

"Bad weather and oversupply had driven down prices before the tariffs hit. Minnesota soybean sales to China dipped to near zero in November 2018," the report said.