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EU imposes steel tarrifs...

R

rahvin

Elite Member
http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/03/26/eu.tarrifs/index.html

So the EU after all their strong words about free trade decide that if we do it, they will to. You know what the best part is? The US doesn't export steel, we only produce 40% of the steel we consume so who are the EU tarrifs punishing? The same countries the US imposed them on. Why did the EU do it? Because those countries were dumping on the US market, and with the recently imposed tariffs they would have moved the dumping to the EU so the EU imposed the tarrifs to protect their jobs.

Do as we say not as we do. Just remember, when you point at us you got 4 fingers pointing at you.
 


<< So the EU after all their strong words about free trade ... >>


can be put to


<< So the US after all their strong words about free trade ... >>




and this


<< The EU tariffs do not stop at steel. Brussels has drawn up a list of other U.S. goods worth about $2 billion. >>

 
why are we subsidizing big steel anyway? we've been doing it for more than 30 years! it's time these inefficient beasts die and let the mini-mills take over
 
The EU complains that it will be a dumping ground for steel. But that's not a bad situation to be in: a ton of supply means depressed prices...a good proposition for consumers of steel: automakers and commercial developers, for example.
 


<< so who are the EU tarrifs punishing >>


The proposed EU duties would fall on $2.1 billion worth of imports of U.S. products such as Harley Davidson motorcycles, orange juice, steel and textiles.

Note this is a purely political maneuver, Brussels has no intention of launching into an all out trade war.
 


<< why are we subsidizing big steel anyway? we've been doing it for more than 30 years! it's time these inefficient beasts die and let the mini-mills take over >>



I would tend to agree. But this really isn't about how stupid our tariffs were (and they were). This is about how the EU had all those strong words for the US, then did the SAME THING. The tariffs the EU imposed on steel today didn't hurt the US, we don't EXPORT any steel. The EU likes to talk big (and point out when we are stupid) but they are massively protectionist of their own jobs.
 
Bush is a moron... this is how the Great Depression got started.

If the steel industry owners had put a significant percentage of profits back into the factories to make them more modern and productive, the USA steel industry would not have needed a tariff... perhaps only a tax break or subsidy to fix itself.

-PCM
 


<< If the steel industry owners had put a significant percentage of profits back into the factories to make them more modern and productive . . . >>


This wasn't Bush's reasoning behind his imposing tariffs. Bush was hoping that his decision to back big steel would pay political dividends in states such as West Virginia and Pennsylvania, not only in terms of votes in the fall elections but also in congressional support for other priorities.

Pentbomb
 


<< Bush is a moron... this is how the Great Depression got started.

If the steel industry owners had put a significant percentage of profits back into the factories to make them more modern and productive, the USA steel industry would not have needed a tariff... perhaps only a tax break or subsidy to fix itself.
 >>



how is that bush's fault? And just how did the Great Depression get started? I don't see any resemblance.
 
Bush was hoping that his decision to back big steel would pay political dividends in states such as West Virginia and Pennsylvania, not only in terms of votes in the fall elections but also in congressional support for other priorities.

Yeah, but it just might backfire on him. EU tariffs are aimed at industries in states which Bush had thin margins (such as orange juice in Florida).

And just how did the Great Depression get started? I don't see any resemblance.

You need to get out more. Smoot-Hawley ring a bell?
 


<< it just might backfire on [Bush] >>


Bush had hoped Europe, fearing a trade war, wouldn't respond to tariffs. Or that if Brussels did retaliate, the measures wouldn't materialize until after the mid-term elections, after which he could drop the tariffs. Bush was wrong, and now, he needs to reassess the situation.



<< EU tariffs are aimed at industries in states which Bush had thin margins (such as orange juice in Florida). >>


Yup, that was the EU's intention. These products are also key to the economies of states such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, West Virginia and the Carolinas. These were "swing states" in the last presidential election and will be major battlegrounds in the fall, when Bush and the Republicans will fight to retain control of the House of Representatives.

Pentbomb
 
According to WTO-rules if one country (in this case USA) imposes regulations and tariffs that are in violation with WTO-rules (lin this case quotas and tariffs for imported steel) and that causes instability in normal market-conditions (steel formerly headed to USA would now be headed towards EU), other parties (in this case EU) has the right to shield itself (in this case, impose tariffs on steel) to protect themselves from that instability in the market.

EU is playing by the rules.
 
The EU could be accused of doing it in order to protect themselves from cheap subsidized steel from the developing/third world, if the US tarrifs didn't apply to EU steel. However, the US also imposed the tarrifs on the EU. Which is why the EU is mainly targeting the US.

US protectionism is getting out of hand. Steel and softwood lumber are already protected, what's next?
 
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