U.S. steel industry still needs protection from unfair trade

President Bush is halfway toward sending the rest of the world a message that the United States will not allow unfair foreign imports to cripple the U.S. steel industry, and he should not allow himself to be talked into ending early the tariffs he imposed 18 months ago.
Those tariffs were a legitimate response to unfair trade then, and they're legitimate today.
The argument for allowing the tariffs to run their three year course got a boost last week when the U.S. International Trade Commission issued a report saying that the tariffs have not significantly hurt small steel-consuming businesses.
Disastrous effect
Certainly, whatever the effect may have been, it has not been as severe as that of cut-rate imports, which have contributed in varying degrees in recent years to bankruptcy filings by 31 steel companies.
The latest of those was WCI Steel in Warren, the Mahoning Valley's third largest industrial employer, with 1,740 employees.
Certainly, the unfair trade practices that resulted in President Bush imposing tariffs ranging from 8 percent to 30 percent on a variety of imported steels was not the only factor in WCI's bankruptcy. But just as certainly, had the imports not been allowed to run free during the latter half of the Clinton administration, today's domestic steel industry would be different in a dozen ways.
The steel that was dumped on U.S. markets by countries in Europe, Asia and South America depressed prices, making it impossible for American producers to make a profit. Some simply went out of business, others consolidated and streamlined -- which put even more pressure on companies that had managed to remain profitable. Just two years ago, WCI had $80 million in reserve.
Competitive pressures
But as some of its competitors emerged from bankruptcy with smaller work forces, restructured labor contracts and lower debt, WCI's reserves were quickly consumed.
WCI officials are committed to saving the company. But whatever chance they have will be lessened if President Bush backs away from his commitment to the domestic steel industry and reopens the borders to foreign nations that have found a way of exporting their potential unemployment to the United States by flooding our market with their steel, even if they have to sell it at a loss.
And as we have pointed out before, saving the U.S. steel industry isn't just about saving jobs. Having a vital domestic steel industry is a matter of national security, especially in a time of war.