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President Bush Mulls Lifting Controversial Steel Tariffs

Aired December 01, 2003 - 15:05   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The Bush administration finds itself between a rock and a hard place over steel. With much of Europe heading (ph) for a trade war, the president is said to be leaning toward lifting the steel tariffs that have been in place since March 2002. We get some of the details from CNN senior White House correspondent John King.
Hi, John.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Kyra. This is a very important economic decision for the president. And also a very important political decision for the president. And several administration officials are telling CNN that Mr. Bush is all but certain within the next few days to lift those tariffs on foreign- made steel.

The president imposed them back in March 2002. Steel coming from South America, from Europe, from Asia as well. The tariffs range from 8 percent to 30 percent.

The president did this to try to help the U.S. steel industry, which was reeling from economic recession and foreign competition at the time. But last month, the World Trade Organization ruled that those U.S. tariffs are illegal. And a number of trading partners, South Korea, Japan, China, the European Union, is alone, promising to impose some $2.2 billion in sanctions on American goods if the president does not wipe out these tariffs on imported steel.

Now, if the European Union went ahead just with its decision, for example, it would impose trade sanctions on U.S. motorcycles, U.S. textiles and shoes, Florida orange juice and other citrus products. So the president facing a tough economic decision. But politically, if he repeals those tariffs, he could of course face some political heat in some key presidential battleground states.

Pennsylvania, a big steel state the president hopes to win next year. West Virginia and Ohio, also big steel states where the president has a political investment for next year's reelection campaign.

What the White House is hoping here, though, is that both the U.S. steel industry and the overall U.S. economy have come back quite a bit since March 2002, when the president imposed those tariffs. Again, officials telling us, unless there's some major hitch at the last minute, within the next two or three days the president will announce that he is lifting those trade sanctions. The White House says that will avert a trade war, a global trade war, that could hurt the U.S. economy at a time all the government data shows it is roaring back to life -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Our John King live from the White House. Thanks, John.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired December 1, 2003 - 15:05   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The Bush administration finds itself between a rock and a hard place over steel. With much of Europe heading (ph) for a trade war, the president is said to be leaning toward lifting the steel tariffs that have been in place since March 2002. We get some of the details from CNN senior White House correspondent John King.
Hi, John.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Kyra. This is a very important economic decision for the president. And also a very important political decision for the president. And several administration officials are telling CNN that Mr. Bush is all but certain within the next few days to lift those tariffs on foreign- made steel.

The president imposed them back in March 2002. Steel coming from South America, from Europe, from Asia as well. The tariffs range from 8 percent to 30 percent.

The president did this to try to help the U.S. steel industry, which was reeling from economic recession and foreign competition at the time. But last month, the World Trade Organization ruled that those U.S. tariffs are illegal. And a number of trading partners, South Korea, Japan, China, the European Union, is alone, promising to impose some $2.2 billion in sanctions on American goods if the president does not wipe out these tariffs on imported steel.

Now, if the European Union went ahead just with its decision, for example, it would impose trade sanctions on U.S. motorcycles, U.S. textiles and shoes, Florida orange juice and other citrus products. So the president facing a tough economic decision. But politically, if he repeals those tariffs, he could of course face some political heat in some key presidential battleground states.

Pennsylvania, a big steel state the president hopes to win next year. West Virginia and Ohio, also big steel states where the president has a political investment for next year's reelection campaign.

What the White House is hoping here, though, is that both the U.S. steel industry and the overall U.S. economy have come back quite a bit since March 2002, when the president imposed those tariffs. Again, officials telling us, unless there's some major hitch at the last minute, within the next two or three days the president will announce that he is lifting those trade sanctions. The White House says that will avert a trade war, a global trade war, that could hurt the U.S. economy at a time all the government data shows it is roaring back to life -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Our John King live from the White House. Thanks, John.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com