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Since I live in the Rust Belt and have a far more nuanced understanding of the steel tariff, please allow me:

I have no idea why GWB imposed the tariff--although I suspect it was for two reasons, both political: 1) to bail out the Big Steel boys who are a bit inefficient, although VERY necessary to the national defense (the mini-mills don't make steel from scratch--they only recycle..); and 2) the unions wanted Big Steel up and running to fund their pensions. (As you know, Bush also shoved through a defined-benefit pension rescue plan, altering the required contributions by re-indexing the actuarial numbers...)

Having said that,

The Administration F$%^&$d this up to a fare-thee-well, demonstrating (to your credit) that too many years at Harvard and Yale leave you educated FAR beyond your intelligence. Follow this carefully:

The Administration placed a tariff on raw steel, but NOT on fabricated steel. Thus, while US fabricators had to pay a gazillion dollars for raw materials, FOREIGN fabricators did not. Multi-nationals who operated both here and overseas merely moved their fab. operations to Canada, or Mexico, or wherever, and brought the steel in, free of US tariffs.

But small, or mid-sized US-only fabricators got screwed.

Had the Administration had an understanding of the real world, they would have slapped the tariff on ALL steel AND fabricated steel products, avoiding the dislocation.

(It had no noticeable effect on consumer product purchases, did it? You note that retail sales have hummed along quite well, regardless, do you not???)

In any case, the WTO boys railed and puffed, and GWB backed down. Had he some actual interest in the welfare of the citizens of THIS country, he could have told WTO to F%^^ themselves, cut side deals with our largest geopolitical ALLIES, and pissed on the WTO treaty as he shredded it for the cameras.

But no. He gave in. He's a wuss.

Ya a more comprehensive tariff would have made all US goods that used steel to be less competitive in the international market. It is good there was a workaround to limit the damage.

I must say that you are more knowledgeable than the normal Luddite protectionist. I enjoy chatting with you. You are worthy of my time. I mean that as a complement. Carry on.