Another side effect of President Bush’s disastrous raising of US tariffs on imported steel is a $2.2 billion fine from the World Trade Organization. The three-nation council’s final decision is that the 30% tariff is a violation of international trade rules.
The steel tariff decision was one of the worst of the Bush Administration, and it’s not surprising that the WTO voted the way it did. Moreover, the decision has already cost the country more jobs than it ever saved, and the EU will likely begin implementing retaliatory tariffs that will target key battleground states in the 2004 race.
Protectionism doesn’t work, it has never worked, and it’s foolish to think that it would work in the future. The Bush Administration has been a strong advocate of free trade worldwide – they should have followed their own best advice.
For Bush to repeal these tariffs now would be politically disastrous. Economically devastated steel states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, which are all swing states, don’t need an extra excuse to give Bush the heave-ho. The more likely event is that will run out the clock until the tariffs expire in 2005 (after the election) and if he’s still living in the White House, then repeal the tariffs and, along with other Republicans, beam with delight at the prospect of destroying the livelihoods of union steelworkers and their families.