Bush Cancels Steel Tariffs Early

President Bush signed a proclamation on December 4th, 2003 ending the Section 201 steel tariffs put in place in March 2002.

Bush said in a written statement that "The U.S. steel industry wisely used the 21 months of breathing space we provided to consolidate and restructure. The industry made progress increasing productivity, lowering production costs, and making America more competitive with foreign steel producers."

The World Trade Organization declared the U.S. tariffs illegal under global trade rules and gave the approval for the European Union and Japan to impose retaliatory tariffs on $2.2 billion worth of U.S. products. Immediately after the White House announcement, the EU dropped the threat of sanctions.

The United Steelworkers of America condemned the decision to lift steel tariffs as "capitulating to European blackmail and a sorry betrayal of American Steelworkers."

U.S. manufacturers who consume steel say the tariffs did more harm to the economy than good, claiming steel users lost far more jobs than steel producers gained. The Consuming Industries Trade Action Coalition (CITAC) heralded the decision to end the steel tariffs as the "right decision for the 13 million workers in steel consuming industries."