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>>My interest is Mr. Free Trade George W. Bush's decision to cave in to the steel worker's union and slap tariffs on imported steel in order to get Pennsylvania's electoral vote in the next election.
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>I don't want to debate this, but what exactly is the problem? It affects more than Pennsylvania (although it may impact there more than any where else). The US steel makers having been trying to get this tariff for many years.


Which really only means that there are few U.S. owned steel makers outside the U.S. selling their goods in the U.S.
Were there lots of U.S. owned steel mills abroad then I dare say that President Bush would have acted differently.

My theory on this issue is that President Bush went about it the wrong way. He should have (quite legitimately, as I see it) declared steel to be a critical material relating to the country's defense and so subsidized the steel industry in the U.S. and made damned sure that any steel that the U.S. Government or its direct contractors buy is from U.S. mills. Of course any excess steel to be sold abroad would have to have its price increased to make up for the subsidy.

Free trade - it's a myth