PITTSBURGH Steel producers express concern that tariffs will end

Industry leaders plan a new campaign to publicize the need for steel tariffs.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Major steel producers say they have done everything asked of them during the 18 months since President Bush enacted tariffs, yet concerns that those protections could end before they are set to expire in 2005 were evident during a large steel trade show Tuesday.
Wilbur Ross, chairman of Cleveland-based International Steel Group Inc., ran down a laundry list of threats to the steel and manufacturing industry at the annual Iron and Steel Exposition being held in Pittsburgh this week.
Despite rapid-paced restructuring and consolidation, Ross said steel producers are at a vulnerable moment politically.
"The final and probably the most difficult path is the political," he said. "President Bush took a courageous step when he imposed the steel tariffs, and I'm sure he did so because he knew it was the right thing to do. But like anyone [seeking] re-election, he is mindful of the political consequences as well, and unfortunately, our industry has not worked effectively to give him the credit that he deserves."
Will campaign for tariffs
Ross announced last week that a coalition of manufacturers and steelmakers would open a campaign in Washington and in the press to bolster the case for tariffs imposed in March 2002 on certain kinds of foreign steel.
On Tuesday, he said it was critical that the Free Trade for America Coalition "communicate forcefully to the public and to elected officials the abuses now occurring in international trade and to create an outcry against it."
More than 30 steel companies have declared bankruptcy since January 1999.
Ross said that in the next several weeks, he hopes to expand the coalition beyond the current members, which include 26 trade associations, four unions and 12 corporations.
"November is a logical time to have this done because there is going to be so much action then," he said.
WTO to decide case
The World Trade Organization is expected to decide an appeal by the United States on whether it violated global trade rules with the tariffs.
Trade ministers are scheduled to meet in Miami at the end of November to discuss the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas.
Steel organizations, including the Association of Iron and Steel Engineers holding the event in Pittsburgh this week, said they are confident that the administration will strongly consider a report released by the U.S. International Trade Commission earlier this month that found that tariffs have not substantially harmed steel buyers in the United States.