Sick of me talking about steel tariffs? Yeah, me too. I hold our President in high esteem and it hurt to watch him put naked politics above principle.
Sometimes, you have to play the game. I can appreciate that. But the steel (and softwood) tariffs slowed the economic recovery and gave every other nation on this planet cover for protectionist policies. Cui bono? Well, Richard Gephardt!
In Steel Thyself, Karl Rove the WSJ documents the political "gains" of this policy:
After all George Bush has done for steel, the United Steelworkers of America yesterday returned the favor and endorsed Richard Gephardt for President. Call it more evidence, if any more were needed, that the Administration's decision to impose 30% tariffs on steel imports last year was a major economic and political blunder.
In announcing the endorsement, union president Leo Gerard praised Mr. Gephardt's trade record but never once mentioned the dive Mr. Bush took for steel. Far from it, he called the field of Democratic contenders "an embarrassment of riches, any of whom we can support over the reactionary policies of the current Administration." On protectionism, Mr. Gephardt is indeed hard to beat. He fought against fast track, against permanent normal trade relations with China and in favor of steel quotas.
Mr. Bush's problem is that the steel tariffs were never going to deliver as advertised. They couldn't save Rust Belt mills or keep Big Steel companies from filing for bankruptcy and walking away from their pension and retirement obligations. They would do nothing to win over protectionists in battleground states.