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"as long as there are people in China who will work for 5 cents an hour"

I think you mean to say as long as the Chinese Labor Board allows their workers to be paid only 5 cents an hour. Remember we are dealing with a communist country here. The people have no rights when it comes to demanding better working conditions or better pay.

Also, it's not just union workers who are losing their jobs. Ask Bush why the tariff on steel at the beginning of the war? It raised prices on the steel itself and further raised costs for those in the industry.

There are many factors at play in this scenario... We also have to keep in mind the red tape associated with even landing a government contract here in the U.S. Rumsfeld said this is not a matter of money...If that's the case then why aren't they seeking out more steel and other metal manufacturers to assist in this production? There are tons of skilled machinists without jobs - here in Colorado and also in Illinois.

Ask Bush why the tariff on steel at the beginning of the war? It raised prices on the steel itself and further raised costs for those in the industry.

You clearly don't have any work related to the steel industry.

If you did, you'd know that steel prices fell when the tarriff was put into effect, and rose, when it was lifted.

Yes, that is counterintuitive to free-marketeer doctrine, but it is what really happened in the marketplace. The tarriff stimulated domestic companies to restart more domestic capacity than foriegn capacity was constricted by the tarriff (think the LTV mill in Cleveland, for example). A greater overall supply available in the US meant that prices fell.

Around the time the tarriff was removed, the Chinese steel market started overheating, sucking in scrap and finished steel wherever it could be found and thus raising overall prices worldwide for these products.