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Sounds plausible but it doesn't address one area of my concerns. If we permit other nations to subsidize their steel industries and take a rising share of our market to the extent that our domestic production declines, even ceases, don't we put ourselves into a situation analagous to our dependence on foreign petroleum? If our suppliers cut off the supplies, then what? Contrarily, it seems to be more prudent to reduce our dependence on the foreign supply of vital strategic goods -- steel among them. Perhaps the same argument wouldn't work for widgets, since we can become dependent on foreign-manufactured widgets without inviting an economic, geo-political squeeze from the supplier or suppliers.

If we permit other nations to subsidize their steel industries and take a rising share of our market to the extent that our domestic production declines, even ceases, don't we put ourselves into a situation analagous to our dependence on foreign petroleum? If our suppliers cut off the supplies, then what?

I guess that could happen. I'll bet you big money it won't.

If other nations are subsidizing their steel industry they are basically taking money from their taxpayers and giving it to our steel consumers.

I say bring it on, sell us your stuff cheap. I don't see why we should follow their stupid example.

There is an enormous world glut in steel. There will always be someone to sell to us.

I wouldn't feel comfortable if 100% of our steel industry went bye-bye but if the old inefficient producers went away there would still be plenty of work for the smaller, more efficient mills.

We still produce the high end, value added steel products here. The stuff getting the tariffs is, if I understand correctly, mostly low-end cheap stuff.

The answer is yes we do. There is too much execss capacity in foreign markets but since they are not "free" markets the excess capacity does not go by the wayside, it gets supported by socialist governments.

The endgame would be OSEC and we would have to deal with another group of schmucks who price fix. Reagan understood it and so does Bush. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure and anybody who claims this is calamitous should be able to flash back to the 80's and show you and I the global depression emanating from targeted tariffs.

And whats more, tariffs are constitutional.