President Bush responded correctly to unfair steel trade

Europe, Russia, China, Japan and South Korea are squealing already about President Bush's measured response to years of their dumping steel products on the American market.
Some of them are even threatening a trade war. If so, they will be picking the wrong war at the wrong time with the wrong enemy.
Nations that are already exporting more products to the United States than they are importing are not in a very good position to start a trade war. And nations that need American imports more than the United States needs their exports are entering the field of battle under a disadvantage.
Exporting nations are likely to find that this is not the time to rattle their sabers in the face of the American public. Threats to make citizens of the United States pay a price for President Bush's principled stand might be just the incentive that millions of Americans need to start reading the "Made in ... " labels on the products they buy.
That's the last thing those nations should want.
Besides, the president's tariffs are hardly draconian. His three-year package of tariffs of 8 percent to 30 percent was well below the 40 percent across-the board penalties the steel industry and unions wanted. And the tariffs are structured in such a way that they won't do much more than put the brakes on the import of some products.
For instance, the Bush plan imposes a 30 percent tariff on slab steel, the country's biggest import, in the first year, but exempts the first 5.4 million tons imported. Last year, imports of slab steel totaled only 300 million tons above that threshold. In each of the next two years, the tariff rate will go down and the allowable tonnage will go up.
Surprising support: If anything, it is surprising that steel-producing companies and unions have applauded the Bush plan as they have.
Those who say that President Bush is abandoning his free trade roots miss the point. It is one thing for a nation to compete in a free and open market place, savoring its victories and learning from its defeats. It is quite another thing for a nation to be a patsy, standing by while government-subsidized or government-owned producers dump their goods on foreign markets.
The United States is under no obligation to accept what these countries are exporting: red ink for domestic steel producers and unemployment for U.S. workers.
These tariffs are no panacea. At best they'll give some struggling U.S. steel companies a chance to stay in business. Enacting them was the least President Bush could do for an industry that is vital to the nation's well-being.
Nations that choose to retaliate should know that they are doing so at their own risk.