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CIAO DATE: 02/04
U.S. Steel Tariffs Give Safeguards a Bad Name
Claude E. Barfield
On The Issues
December 2003
Introduction
On December 4, President George W. Bush rescinded tariffs on imported steel goods. The duties, ranging from 8 percent to 30 percent, had been levied since March 2002 under the so-called safeguards provisions of U.S. and WTO law that allow nations to provide temporary protection for industries under stress.
The U.S. decision had been expected for some time. Some weeks ago the WTO ruled, in effect, that the administration had stretched and abused the WTO rules; eight WTO nations, led by the European Union, stood ready to apply billions dollars' worth of sanctions against U.S. exports the United States did not back down by December 15. Thus the structured protection that had been slated to run for thirty-six months was cut short after twenty-one months—to howls from steel executives and steel union leaders, as well as from the many Democratic presidential aspirants.
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