Seoulstriker
12-04-2003, 12:47 PM
http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,104801,00.html
Bush Repeals Steel Tariffs
Thursday, December 04, 2003
WASHINGTON — President Bush on Thursday lifted virtually all tariffs he imposed on foreign steel in March 2002.
But the president will soften the blow on the domestic steel industry by announcing new measures designed to protect against unfair foreign competition, Republican and industry officials said Thursday.
"The decision I make will be based upon my strong belief that America's consumers, the American economy, is better off with a world that trades freely and a world that trades fairly," Bush told reporters Thursday during an Oval Office photo session with Jordan's King Abdullah II (search).
"I acted to give the steel industry time to adjust. I acted in time for us to say to the world that we will trade but we want to trade in a fair way. And the decision will be announced here shortly," he added.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan (search) said Thursday that something will be announced "soon."
The White House asked key lawmakers from steel states to return to Washington for a briefing at the White House Thursday morning so they could be informed before the administration made Bush's decision public.
But when asked if anyone at the White House had been talking to lawmakers, McCllelan said he was not aware of official meetings with lawmakers or of phone calls being made.
Avoiding a Trade War
The administration was acting to avert a threatened trade war with Europe and other big trading partners. Those nations had vowed to retaliate with punitive tariffs on American products unless the steel tariffs were removed.
The World Trade Organization (search) had ruled the tariffs must be lifted and the 15-nation European Union is threatening retaliatory sanctions against $2.2 billion of American products if the tariffs aren't lifted by Dec. 10.
Japan and South Korea have also said they were considering retaliation.
The EU carefully chose its target list to cover a range of products from oranges to pajamas that would inflict maximum political pain in key swing states that Bush is hoping to win in next year's presidential race.
Bush had to choose between angering businesses in those states or steelmakers in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio, also considered crucial to his re-election chances.
A study by the U.S. International Trade Commission last September concluded the tariffs had accomplished many of their goals in getting the domestic steel industry to consolidate and restructure. The Bush administration believes the tariffs have helped the steel industry get back on its feet.
The tariffs were also a diminishing benefit, politically. The Steelworkers Union has already endorsed Democratic Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri for president, and the higher cost of steel was drawing complaints from the manufacturing sector, which Bush is anxious to see make its own recovery. Bush will promise to monitor steel imports to make sure they don't surge again.
The tariffs were imposed when the domestic industry was staggering from a string of bankruptcies and thousands of lost jobs that the industry blamed on a surge of foreign imports.
Among the proposals being considered by the administration was making permanent early reporting requirements to detect any big influx of steel into the United States.
That requires steel importers to apply for import licenses, giving the government a quicker way to detect possible import surges than waiting for Customs Service data when the steel arrives at U.S. ports.
The administration also was expected to pledge an aggressive use of U.S. anti-dumping laws to impose tariffs on specific steel products should imports surge once the tariffs are lifted.
The Bush package was also likely to include pledges to continue pursuing global negotiations aimed at getting other countries to limit government subsidies for their domestic steel producers and to curb overcapacity in the steel industry.
Those talks, under way since 2002, so far have yielded little, and many trade experts don't hold out much hope that other countries will agree to U.S. demands in this area, given the political power their own steel industries wield.
A key discussion on the steel issue occurred Tuesday night when Bush met in the Oval Office with Vice President **** Cheney, Commerce Secretary Don Evans and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick. Bush had just returned from a fund-raising trip to Pittsburgh, where he encountered last-minute lobbying from the steel industry urging him not to lift the tariffs.
Bush raised $850,000 for his re-election campaign at the fund-raiser, where one of his hosts was Thomas J. Usher, chief executive of U.S. Steel Corp., the nation's largest steel producer. Usher met with Bush to urge him to retain the tariffs.
Brink Lindsey, a trade expert at the Cato Institute, a Washington think tank, said the package the administration was assembling to replace the tariffs amounted to little more than a fig leaf for the domestic industry.
"The existence or nonexistence of an import monitoring system is not going to make that much difference," he said. "And the pledge on more international talks is lip service as well. The talks haven't gone very far and they are not likely to go very far."
Evans is scheduled to discuss the steel tariff issue on Fox News' "Your World with Neil Cavuto" on Thursday.
Bush Repeals Steel Tariffs
Thursday, December 04, 2003
WASHINGTON — President Bush on Thursday lifted virtually all tariffs he imposed on foreign steel in March 2002.
But the president will soften the blow on the domestic steel industry by announcing new measures designed to protect against unfair foreign competition, Republican and industry officials said Thursday.
"The decision I make will be based upon my strong belief that America's consumers, the American economy, is better off with a world that trades freely and a world that trades fairly," Bush told reporters Thursday during an Oval Office photo session with Jordan's King Abdullah II (search).
"I acted to give the steel industry time to adjust. I acted in time for us to say to the world that we will trade but we want to trade in a fair way. And the decision will be announced here shortly," he added.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan (search) said Thursday that something will be announced "soon."
The White House asked key lawmakers from steel states to return to Washington for a briefing at the White House Thursday morning so they could be informed before the administration made Bush's decision public.
But when asked if anyone at the White House had been talking to lawmakers, McCllelan said he was not aware of official meetings with lawmakers or of phone calls being made.
Avoiding a Trade War
The administration was acting to avert a threatened trade war with Europe and other big trading partners. Those nations had vowed to retaliate with punitive tariffs on American products unless the steel tariffs were removed.
The World Trade Organization (search) had ruled the tariffs must be lifted and the 15-nation European Union is threatening retaliatory sanctions against $2.2 billion of American products if the tariffs aren't lifted by Dec. 10.
Japan and South Korea have also said they were considering retaliation.
The EU carefully chose its target list to cover a range of products from oranges to pajamas that would inflict maximum political pain in key swing states that Bush is hoping to win in next year's presidential race.
Bush had to choose between angering businesses in those states or steelmakers in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio, also considered crucial to his re-election chances.
A study by the U.S. International Trade Commission last September concluded the tariffs had accomplished many of their goals in getting the domestic steel industry to consolidate and restructure. The Bush administration believes the tariffs have helped the steel industry get back on its feet.
The tariffs were also a diminishing benefit, politically. The Steelworkers Union has already endorsed Democratic Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri for president, and the higher cost of steel was drawing complaints from the manufacturing sector, which Bush is anxious to see make its own recovery. Bush will promise to monitor steel imports to make sure they don't surge again.
The tariffs were imposed when the domestic industry was staggering from a string of bankruptcies and thousands of lost jobs that the industry blamed on a surge of foreign imports.
Among the proposals being considered by the administration was making permanent early reporting requirements to detect any big influx of steel into the United States.
That requires steel importers to apply for import licenses, giving the government a quicker way to detect possible import surges than waiting for Customs Service data when the steel arrives at U.S. ports.
The administration also was expected to pledge an aggressive use of U.S. anti-dumping laws to impose tariffs on specific steel products should imports surge once the tariffs are lifted.
The Bush package was also likely to include pledges to continue pursuing global negotiations aimed at getting other countries to limit government subsidies for their domestic steel producers and to curb overcapacity in the steel industry.
Those talks, under way since 2002, so far have yielded little, and many trade experts don't hold out much hope that other countries will agree to U.S. demands in this area, given the political power their own steel industries wield.
A key discussion on the steel issue occurred Tuesday night when Bush met in the Oval Office with Vice President **** Cheney, Commerce Secretary Don Evans and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick. Bush had just returned from a fund-raising trip to Pittsburgh, where he encountered last-minute lobbying from the steel industry urging him not to lift the tariffs.
Bush raised $850,000 for his re-election campaign at the fund-raiser, where one of his hosts was Thomas J. Usher, chief executive of U.S. Steel Corp., the nation's largest steel producer. Usher met with Bush to urge him to retain the tariffs.
Brink Lindsey, a trade expert at the Cato Institute, a Washington think tank, said the package the administration was assembling to replace the tariffs amounted to little more than a fig leaf for the domestic industry.
"The existence or nonexistence of an import monitoring system is not going to make that much difference," he said. "And the pledge on more international talks is lip service as well. The talks haven't gone very far and they are not likely to go very far."
Evans is scheduled to discuss the steel tariff issue on Fox News' "Your World with Neil Cavuto" on Thursday.