Free Republic

ONG KONG, Nov. 20 - China's vice minister of commerce threatened on Thursday to raise tariffs on imports from the United States in a steel dispute, and summoned the American ambassador to protest the Bush administration's announcement this week of plans to impose quotas on Chinese sleepwear, bras and certain fabrics.But the Chinese government also took pains to limit the scope of its disagreement with the Bush administration. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman in Beijing said that two trips to the United States by purchasing teams had been postponed because of difficulties in obtaining visas for the teams' members, and...

Is there steel in Bush's spine? Posted: November 17, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2003 Creators Syndicate, Inc. With the World Trade Organization's backing, Europe just issued an ultimatum to the United States. Either President Bush repeals the tariffs he imposed to save the U.S. steel industry, or Europe will slam $2 billion in tariffs on U.S. exports. The European Union is threatening us with a trade war. Predictably, our globalists and Big Media are in a panic, imploring the president to surrender. What Bush decides will tell us what he is made of. Some of us still hope there...

<p>All the Democrats seeking to evict George Bush from the White House denounce him for ``unilateralism,'' meaning insufficient respect for international institutions and obligations. Now some of those Democrats may turn on a dime and demand that he defy an international organization, and disregard clear obligations freely entered into, by ignoring the World Trade Organization.</p>

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Under pressure from many of his top advisers to lift tariffs on steel imports, U.S. President George W. Bush may be moving in that direction to avert a trade war with Europe, Republican sources and analysts say. That could spark a political backlash from steel makers and workers in next year's presidential election. The White House said no decisions have been made and officials have not publicly ruled out the possibility that the administration could flout the World Trade Organisation by keeping the tariffs in place. Administration sources said Bush, who came to office championing free trade,...

<p>During a cross-country drive in July 1989, my car broke down in the Arizona desert sometime around noon. My cat, Miles, who had long, black fur, was not pleased. I managed to find a phone and call a tow truck, and during the long, slow, non-air-conditioned ride to the nearest service station, with Miles panting at my side, I had plenty of time to take in the scenery: row after row of cotton.</p>

Let me offer my Democratic friends some friendly advice: They will never win the presidency or regain control of the Congress by campaigning to raise taxes, tariffs and special-interest subsidies while opposing a foreign policy that seeks to expand liberal democracy in the Middle East and throughout the Muslim world. Sen. Zell Miller says it best in his new book, "A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat": The current batch of Democratic presidential hopefuls have managed to combine the foreign policy of George McGovern with the tax policies of Walter Mondale, a prescription for disaster for...

Imagine this: You're in a Corvette with Democratic presidential hopeful Dick Gephardt. He's driving 100 mph down the interstate, sixth gear, top down, wind in his helmet-like coif, and then he realizes he's missed his exit -- five minutes ago! Funny thing is, Gephardt still thinks he can make the off ramp. You know he's nuts, and most importantly, he knows he's nuts. But he just can't stop reassuring you that he can make that turn. Sound weird? Not if you're an American manufacturing employee. You're used to Gephardt's brand of "logic." Because Democratic presidential candidates are telling them every...

<p>Last week, the House Ways and Means Committee held hearings on legislation to impose tariffs on Chinese imports. While such action is unlikely, it shows the political pressure to do something about growing imports from China is increasing. However, emotion rather than economics is driving the agenda.</p>

<p>Steel tariffs imposed by President Bush last year probably had a slight negative impact on the economy, the U.S. International Trade Commission said in a report released last night.</p> <p>But the tariffs also gave steelmakers a chance to regain footing in a competitive world market and did not drastically harm small steel consumers, the report said.</p>

WASHINGTON — A federal trade panel released findings Friday showing steep tariffs on imported steel have not drastically hurt small steel-consuming businesses, easing a potential political problem for President Bush's re-election strategy.While "overall employment of steel-consuming industries generally fell or remained flat" in the year after the tariffs were enacted, "in many cases, employment fell by a greater amount (and percentage) in the year before the safeguard measures were implemented than in the first year after they were implemented," stated the U.S. International Trade Commission review released Friday night.The ITC midpoint review of the tariffs outlines their impact so far...

Fri September 19, 2003 10:34 PM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hefty steel tariffs imposed by President Bush 18 months ago have had a slightly negative impact on U.S. economic growth, the U.S. International Trade Commission said on Friday. In a pair of reports sent to the White House and key congressional committees, the ITC estimated the steel tariffs had cost the United States about $30.4 million annually in lost economic growth, a tiny fraction compared to the overall economy which totals about $10 trillion. The reports set the stage for Bush to decide whether to end the tariffs early or...

The September 14 collapse of the WTO's free-trade talks in Cancun, Mexico should smack craven politicians and pampered farmers like a two-by-four across their foreheads. Democrats and Republicans on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue treat agriculture subsidies as purely domestic political handouts. Both parties fertilize rural America with taxpayer dollars to harvest its votes like amber waves of grain. Growers, for their part, never stop crying for help, whether their soil is parched (generating drought aid), soaked, (flood assistance) or perfect (cash relief when bumper crops hammer prices). Some programs pay farmers to cultivate things; others pay them to plant...

Specter: U.S. to Maintain Steel Tariffs By LARA JAKES JORDAN .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - A senior lawmaker from a steel state predicted Thursday the White House will keep tariffs on foreign-made steel in place - but tweak them to ease prices for consumers. Such a compromise would anger tariff supporters who refuse to cede ground in a debate that is flavored by presidential election politics as well as global economic policies. The U.S. International Trade Commission will release two reports Friday that are believed to hold the key to the tariffs' fate. ``There have been a number...

This week we deal with tariff proposals and other absurdities, the Chinese and the huge rise in their holdings of US debt by foreign governments, plus one of the more profound pieces on the events in New York, presciently written more than 50 years ago. At the end, I ask my non-US readers a question about investment laws and practices in their country. A good starting place this week is the legislation introduced in the Senate (SB.1586) to add a 27.5% tariff to Chinese goods unless they allow their currency to float. This is bi-partisan idiocy of the first order,...

The United States is turning protectionist. Or at least that’s the growing risk in this tough economic climate. America is now taking dead aim on the “China problem.” Legislation has been introduced in the US Congress that threatens to impose 27.5% across-the board tariffs on Chinese exports into the US if the RMB peg is not abandoned. In my opinion, this is a classic example of opportunistic politics leading to bad economics. Such an approach would have negative impacts on the US, China, and the broader global economy. It is right out of the script of the nightmares of the...

Let's trade a biased system for a more balanced set of rulesSeptember 9, 2003 One reason Australia keeps running trade deficits is that the rules of world trade are stacked against us. A meeting in Mexico starting tomorrow could be an important step towards reducing that bias.The world's trade ministers will gather in Cancun for their first meeting since their 2001 launch of the Doha Round: an ambitious set of negotiations aimed at reducing barriers in every area of world trade.It's a huge agenda, but at its centre is an area with extreme barriers to trade, and in which Australia...

WASHINGTON -- A group of Republican and Democratic senators said Tuesday they will push for tariffs on imports from China if the Chinese government does not take steps toward letting its currency float freely on world markets. "It's a shot across the bow," said Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky. Chinese goods would face a 27.5 percent American tariff and China would lose its special trading status under the senators' bill, designed to prod China into changing its currency practices.

GEORGE W. BUSH must soon decide whether to reverse the biggest economic blunder of his Presidency by ending his three-year imposition of steel tariffs halfway through that period. The issue that bitterly divided the administration when President Bush wandered down the protectionist path 18 months ago now has his entire economic team united in advocating a change. But high-level sources insist no discussions have been held, and the President has not signaled his intentions. Even Commerce Secretary Donald Evans, a leader in imposing tariffs, is reported by colleagues to support change. Seldom has a President’s initiative backfired so completely as...

WASHINGTON (AP) - A group of Republican and Democratic senators said Tuesday they will push for tariffs on imports from China if the Chinese government does not take steps toward letting its currency float freely on world markets. "It's a shot across the bow," said Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky. Chinese goods would face a 27.5 percent American tariff and China would lose its special trading status under the senators' bill, designed to prod China into changing its currency practices. The lawmakers argue that China unfairly undervalues its currency, making goods produced in China less expensive and making foreign imports too...

WASHINGTON -- George W. Bush must soon decide whether to reverse the biggest economic blunder of his presidency by ending his three-year imposition of steel tariffs halfway through that period. The issue that bitterly divided the administration when President Bush wandered down the protectionist path 18 months ago now has his entire economic team united in advocating a change. But high-level sources insist no discussions have been held, and the president has not signaled his intentions. Even Commerce Secretary Donald Evans, a leader in imposing tariffs, is reported by colleagues to support change. Seldom has a president's initiative backfired so...