WAGNER OUTRAGED BY PRESIDENT’S DECISION ON STEEL TARIFFS

“Bush must honor his commitment to Pa. workers”

Hear Sen. Wagner discuss the tariffs (Dec. 2, 2003)

           PITTSBURGH (Dec. 4, 2003) –  Calling it a “stunning public policy reversal,” state Senator Jack Wagner (D-Pittsburgh) today said that President George W. Bush’s decision to lift protective tariffs on foreign steel “stuck a dagger into the backs of steel manufacturers and workers in Pennsylvania.”

In March 2002, the Bush administration imposed the tariffs for three years as a means of helping to protect domestic steelmakers from foreign firms who were illegally dumping steel onto the American market.  Such practices had resulted in the bankruptcy of 35 steel firms and the idling of more than 54,000 steelworkers in the United States.

In a midterm review of the tariffs released last September, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) found that the tariffs are contributing to the revitalization of the American steel industry.  Following the ITC report, President Bush had to decide whether to leave the tariffs in place, modify them, or eliminate them. 

“The president made a three-year commitment to Pennsylvania workers.  He must honor that commitment,” Wagner said.  “America can no longer stand idly by and do nothing while foreign countries subsidize their steel industries.”

Wagner was the prime sponsor of Senate Resolution 163, which had urged President Bush to continue the tariffs on foreign steel until March 2005 as scheduled. 

“The steel industry needs more time to continue its restructuring so that it can achieve a full recovery from years of illegal foreign dumping,” he explained. 

The measure passed the state Senate unanimously in October.  Yet the Bush administration today announced that it would end the tariffs in order to head off rumored retaliatory action by U.S. trading partners who were upset by the tariffs.

            Wagner expressed outrage at Bush’s decision.  “How can the president justify this action in the face of clear evidence from his own government that the tariffs are helping domestic producers?” he asked.  “It is curious that the Bush administration, for all its recent tough talk and bravado on the world stage, is willing to succumb to the threats of foreign countries on trade when the future of the American steel industry is at stake.” 

            The lifting of the tariffs will likely have an adverse impact on the economies of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, as nearly one-half of all American steelworkers are from these states.  Yet the Bush administration appears to want to score political points in steel-using swing states such as Michigan and Wisconsin at the expense of steel-producing states.

            “Pennsylvania has lost over 58,000 manufacturing jobs since January 2001, and the United States as a whole has lost over 2 million manufacturing jobs during that same time period,” Wagner said.  “We cannot afford to lose one more job, especially in our historic industries like steel.

“Mr. President, don’t govern by the electoral map; do the right thing and stand up for American steelworkers.”

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