Dean slams tariff dropping

Dean slams tariff dropping



WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Presidential hopeful Howard Dean slammed President Bush's decision to scrap steel import tariffs, saying it was playing politics with people's lives.

The steel industry, he said Thursday, still needs time to restructure.

"Despite what President Bush may claim, the steel industry needs additional breathing room to get back on its feet," he said. "When he imposed the tariffs, the president's rhetoric suggested that he actually cared about American steelworkers, their families, and the communities in which they live.

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http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20031204-034649-3384r.htm

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Bam in ya face. Dean is positioning himself well for Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania etc. All key states. You go boyee.

Does Dean want an international trade war?

The tariffs were going to trigger one.

It's about making Bush vulnerable.

Dean is wrong.

Im glad Dean is playing this one smart.

I'm surprised Dean didn't go after the trade agreements or dumping - The root causes of the problem.

The tariffs were stupid in the first place. Bush was playing politics and when faced with a potentially crippling trade war against Japan and the EU he backed down.

We should attack Bush by saying that he puts his own interests ahead of the national interests. Doesn't understand economics and with two decisions (imposing the tariffs and then removing them) managed to hurt both the steel industries and their workers.

If Dean doesn't promise to reinstate the tariffs (which he definitely shouldn't) he shouldn't attack Bush for dismantling them. He should approach it the way I wrote above. Attack Bush on the flip flop and NOT HAVING A PLAN. Thereby putting the US economy in jeopardy.

Bush had a lose-lose situation going and Dean is doing what he should. Dean would've messed with him if the WTO got involved too. This is what's great about Dean.

Look out rove, no matter how good you are, there's always someone better!

I agree this was a lose-lose situation for Bush, but he still chose world trade interests over American jobs.

Bush was "undecided" on the steel tariff issue during his 12/2 visit to Pittsburgh. Undecided, right!! freakin' idiot

Bush implementing the tariffs was politics. Bush dropping the tariffs was politics. I'll go with that.

But the higher price of steel might have cost more jobs in other industries that use steel as an input as it did save jobs in the steel industry. You can't just look at the steel industry to see the results of this tariff.

Actually many Americans don't consider their many of their trade practices to be illegal...
I guess the steel industry should have made the investments to 'compete' a few decades ago, huh?