=> Bu$h caves in on Steel Tariffs in face of Worldwide opposition ...!

U.S. plans to drop steel tariffs

WASHINGTON (CNN) --The U.S. administration is likely to repeal tariffs on
imported steel, according to administration officials.

While a senior administration source called the move "all but a done deal," a
White House spokesman insisted President George W. Bush has not yet officially
signed off on it

"The president still has not made a decision. It remains under review,"
spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters traveling with the president on his
fund-raising trip to Michigan. "The administration continues to consult with
users, consumers, members of Congress, and others on steel."

Administration sources said the tariffs could be repealed because they
accomplished administration goals of allowing the steel industry time to regroup
and recover. But they also said a major factor in the decision is concern that
the European Union, Japan and other countries would retaliate.

The tariffs were high on the agenda of last month's meeting between Bush and
British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London.

"We're in a tough position when you've got the penalties about to be imposed for
something that we're doing," a senior administration official told CNN. "In some
ways it is out of our control."

The move is designed to avoid retaliation from key trade partners such as Europe
and Japan that would have targeted products exported from politically crucial
U.S. states.

European countries had vowed to respond to the tariffs, which were ruled illegal
by the World Trade Organization (WTO), by imposing sanctions on up to $2.2
billion in exports from the United States, beginning as soon as December 15.
Japan issued a similar threat.

The WTO's ruling against the tariffs was finalized three weeks ago, clearing the
way for the retaliatory levies.

Bush decided in March 2002 to impose tariffs of 8 to 30 percent on most steel
imports from Europe, Asia and South America for three years, in a move to help
the U.S. steel industry cope with competition.

After the WTO ruling, the Bush economic team concluded that the tariffs should
be scrapped.

Macquarie Bank global chief economist Richard Gibbs told CNN Monday that he
expected to see the U.S. steel tariffs wound back.

He said the "greater good" would be done for the U.S. economy by winding them
back, and in any case the cost of likely retaliation by trade partners such as
Europe and Japan would be too high.

Gibbs also noted that China was becoming a key player in the global steel trade.

Observers say ending the tariffs ahead of schedule could lead to a backlash
against Bush in the steel states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

-- CNN White House Correspondents Suzanne Malveaux and Dana Bash and producer
Matt Byrne contributed to this report


-- 

"Naturally, the common people don't  want war;
neither in Russia nor in England nor in America,
nor for that matter in Germany.
That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders
of the country who determine the policy and
it is always a simple matter to drag the people
along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist
dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist
dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can
always be brought to the bidding of the leaders.
That is easy. All you have to do is tell them
they are being attacked and denounce the
pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing
the country to danger. It works the same way
in any country."

           - Hermann Goering, Nazi Reichsmarshall