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Date Posted: 19:17:03 03/11/02 Mon
Author: Perceptor II
Subject: Pot, kettle. Kettle, pot.
In reply to: FawnDoo 's message, "Fools gold or true mettle?" on 02:09:39 03/10/02 Sun

>* While the US steel industry has called for these protective measures citing rising imports of cheap steel as the reason so many companies were going out of business, US steel imports declined by 20% in 2001, leading many industry analysts in the UK and Europe to further place blame for the situation in the hands of the US steel industry's failure to restructure to keep up with the modern marketplace, rather than the rising imports of cheap non-US steel.
>

This is a rather simplistic, not to mention self-serving, analysis. It is said there are three kinds of lies: little white lies, big bald-faced lies, and statistics.

Steel imports falling by 20% does not necessarily translate into a rise in domestic steel usage. In fact, I can point to a more likely cause for the decline in steel imports: a big drop in demand for steel overall. As I stated before, U.S. manufacturing went into a deep slump from mid-2000 until just recently. In particular, U.S. steel consumers suffered from a severe drop in demand for their products, which in turn caused them to purchase a lot less steel than before. Given what happened at my previous place of employment (a manufacturer of industrial machinery), I'd say that demand for steel overall fell by more than 20%. Given all the factors involved, I would guess that as a percentage of total steel consumption, imports actually rose in 2001.

Actually, I did eventually find relevant articles at the BBC News site, but only after I used their search engine. In any case, it's good to read from the other side of the issue. It's obvious that regional bias is at play in the news coverage. The New York Times and Washington Post are slanted toward the American position, while the BBCis openly slanted toward the European position.

The more I look into the situation, the more it seems clear that the U.S. steel industry needs the tariffs, at least in some form. This does not mean that complaints from other nations aren't valid. While the complaints are more motivated out of self-interest than a "worldly outlook", the self-interest of these nations is totally understandable and needs to be considered. Both sides need to take a step back. The U.S. needs to signal a willingness to compromise so that the impact on world markets can be minimized, something which unfortunately we've failed to do. The E.U. needs to stand down from its hard line rhetoric and threats, as they haven't exactly shown an eagerness to accomodate American needs. Perhaps a bit of humble pie, a reminder that the E.U. tried a similar stunt in the past over bananas.

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