Monday, December 1
Steel tariffs bad; dropping them good
According to a Washington Post article this morning, "The Bush administration has decided to repeal most of its 20-month-old tariffs on imported steel to head off a trade war that would have included foreign retaliation against products exported from politically crucial states[.]"
This is a good move, because the tariffs are illegal under WTO standards and are frankly indefinsible, would have precipitated an ugly trade war, and had negative overall impacts on the US economy, especially among indistrial end users of steel, such as carmakers (here's a Detroit News editoriall making that point). I hope the administration has learned its lesson and won;t engage in this foolishness again.