The proposed steel tariff will benefit the steel industry.
This is what is seen as a consequence of the steel tariff. What is unseen is the higher prices for goods that use steel, the lower quantity demanded of those goods, and the resulting lost jobs in industries like automobile manufacturing and construction.
Bastiat’s “What Is Seen and What Is Unseen” continues to be relevant to public policy. Sadly. It’s almost like politicians have no incentive to learn and implement what economists have been demonstrating, logically and empirically, since David Hume’s and Adam Smith’s fights against mercantilism in the 18th century.