Washington, Nov 15: Pressure mounted on US President George W. Bush to drop tariffs on imported steel imposed in March of 2002, with a senior Republican lawmaker telling Bush the tariffs had outlived their effectiveness. Bush had imposed the tariffs following pressure from the domestic steel industry, which complained cheap imports were destroying us jobs. Many US steel-makers are located in states seen as important for the 2004 presidential election.
"The purpose of the steel safeguard tariffs has therefore been met, but this has come at a heavy cost," Charles Grassley, the Republican chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee said in a letter to Bush yesterday.
Grassley pointed out that the US International Trade Commission had estimated the tariffs had already cost US businesses and workers over 680 million dollars since their imposition.
The United States lost its appeal on Monday to the World Trade Organisation on the legality of the tariffs and is now subject to 2.2 billion dollars in retaliatory sanctions from trade partners. Bureau Report