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Four Easy Pieces
September 9, 2005; Page A16

If the feds really want to help the economy post-Katrina, here are four words: lumber, cement, shrimp and steel. They all have prices higher than necessary because of U.S. anti-dumping trade law.

Start with lumber and cement, which will soon be in great demand to rebuild the tens of thousands of damaged homes. Prices are sure to rise as reconstruction begins, but thanks to U.S. tariffs as high as 27% on Canadian lumber, American home buyers already pay an extra $1,000 on average for their shelter. The same goes for U.S. duties on Mexican cement, which have averaged 55% since 1990. Now would be an ideal time for Washington to declare a truce in these trade spats and reduce the price of rebuilding.

Then there's shrimp, an increasingly popular part of the American diet whose prices may well rise sharply in Katrina's wake. Louisiana shrimpers represent the bulk of the domestic industry and were all but wiped out by the hurricane. According to the Consuming Industries Trade Action Coalition, shrimp as a share of total food consumption increased 45% among low-income families from 2000 to 2002. And while the U.S. shrimp industry employed 13,000 in 2002, shrimp-consuming industries employed 250,000.

So this is also a perfect time to review the anti-dumping duties the U.S. imposes on foreign shrimp. The U.S. International Trade Commission, which determines these things, is already scheduled to meet this month to consider relief for India and Thai shrimp after the December 2004 tsunami. But the ITC ought to do even more post-Katrina for American consumers and waive duties on all foreign shrimp.

And while we're at it, consider specialty steel, which depends on hydrogen gas produced in the Gulf. Steel Dynamics, a mini-mill in Butler, Indiana, has already said it will stop making cold-rolled, galvanized and painted sheet products until its hydrogen gas supplies are restored. Steel prices are rising fast in anticipation of tight supplies, which means higher prices for American companies making cars, appliances and many other products. So how about lifting anti-dumping tariffs on imported steel to ease any domestic shortages and help U.S. manufacturers trying to stay competitive?

The Beltway impulse is to assume that the only way to respond to a natural disaster is to spend more money. But these four easy trade pieces would help everyone without taxpayers having to spend a dime.

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