Steel Tariffs Have Serious Political Ramifications

Foxnews ^ | 11-04-03 | Kelley Beaucar Vlahos

[Indy Pendance]

WASHINGTON

[vpintheak]

It was dumb to do it, and now the President is suffering the consequences of trying to contstrain the market.

[MonroeDNA]

Tarrifs kill economies.

Bush knows this. The experiment has failed; his advisors who pushed this should walk the plank.

[Willie Green]

Knollenberg represents the suburbs of Detroit, an area that includes about 1,500 manufacturers that produce tools, cars and other products dependent on steel. He warns that if tariffs remain in place, Bush risks this crucial swing state, one of several that could prove to be the lynchpin to a second term....
.
A poll released by Public Opinion Strategies on Oct. 30 shows that 74 percent of registered voters in Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia favor keeping the tariffs in place.
It also shows that 69 percent of voters in Michigan favor the tariffs, suggesting that the state — which has steel producing interests as well as automakers — can't be second-guessed in the upcoming election.

Hmmmmm.... It looks like Knollenberg is getting paid to be out of step with his constituency.

Spencer Abraham tried that. He's not a Senator anymore.

[Willie Green]

Bush's steel tariffs are an abomination, riddled with loopholes and exemptions to pander to special interests.

The optimal solution is a relatively low, across-the-board "revenue tariff" of 10-20% on ALL imported goods from ALL foreign countries.

"Targeted" tariffs (like Bush's steel tariffs) have the disadvantage of providing loopholes and, as others will be quick to point out, the potential to hurt other domestic industries.

An across-the-board revenue tariff of 10-20% would circumvent this type of abuse. Additionally, the revenue could be used to offset a major reduction or elimination of the corporate income tax, providing domestic producers a more "level playing field". (A Proposal to Abolish the Corporate Income Tax)

From a historical perspective, a revenue tariff of 10-20% is NOT excessive: