NATION Study details industries hurt by continued steel-import tariffs

The study attributes political motives to Bush's continuing the tariffs.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Retaining steep tariffs on imported steel -- and playing to voters in steel-producing states -- could cost the White House support among citrus growers, textile producers and Harley-Davidson workers, according to a new study by an independent economic think tank.
The study details U.S. products that could face $2.2 billion in retaliatory sanctions by the European Union if President Bush doesn't lift the tariffs on foreign-made steel.
"This list includes Harley-Davidson motorcycles, textile products from the southeast United States, and citrus products from Florida," the Washington-based Institute for International Economics study noted. "In short, the list is designed to maximize the political pain for Republicans in 2004."
The three-year tariffs, imposed in March 2002 to shield the beleaguered steel industry from foreign competition, endeared the GOP president to traditionally Democratic steel workers in states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. But coming on the heels of a slumping economy, the tariffs have since angered owners and employees of manufacturing companies that make up part of his GOP base in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
WTO ruling
The World Trade Organization ruled against the tariffs earlier this year, charging they violate global trade laws. The United States has appealed the WTO ruling, which should be conclusively decided by Monday.
Keeping the tariffs would "send a signal to the world's trading nations that the United States is not prepared to endure the political cost of eliminating steel protection," the Institute for International Economics study noted. "Furthermore, the administration would run the risk that, in the middle of a presidential election season, foreign countries will exercise their rights under the WTO to retaliate."
The report, which was released Thursday, indicated that a minimum 26,000 U.S. manufacturing jobs would be lost annually as a result of the tariffs.
William Gaskin, chairman of the Consuming Industries Trade Action Coalition Steel Task Force, hailed the study as "yet more evidence that the steel tariffs have caused significant harm."