John King: Steel tariffs a political 'mixed bag'
 |
Correspondent John King
Story Tools
SPECIAL REPORT
|
|
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
|
Follow the news that matters to you. Create your own alert to be notified on topics you're interested in.
Or, visit Popular Alerts for suggestions.
|
|
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush is expected to repeal his March 2002 tariffs on imported steel soon. John King, CNN's senior White House correspondent, talked with anchor Judy Woodruff on "Inside Politics" about the political ramifications of a presidential decision to keep or drop the tariffs.
The following is an edited transcript.
WOODRUFF: Is it a done deal?
KING: We're told it's almost a done deal. Administration officials tell us the recommendation from all of the president's top advisers is to lift the steel tariffs he imposed 20 months ago.
We're told the decision is not likely to come Tuesday, when the president's actually going to Pittsburgh to raise money -- a big steel state, of course, Pennsylvania -- though it is likely to come by the end of the week.
The president has until December 10 under a World Trade Organization ruling that found those U.S. tariffs to be illegal. So we're told to look for it in the next few days. We're told the advice to the president is unanimous that he must lift the tariffs.
They want to spend a little bit more time, though, talking to key members of Congress, steel makers and other involved parties before they announce their decision.
WOODRUFF: What about the political calculation here? Clearly they've looked at which states the president might be hurt, where it might even help him. What are they saying about that?
KING: The officials say it's a mixed bag. They say in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania, three big steel producers, it is likely to hurt the president. You're likely to have some outrage from the steel unions and the like, from the steel companies as well, corporate supporters of this president.
But they say it could help in a state like Michigan, where the president was [Monday]. He was at a small company today that makes parts for the auto industry and for the oil industry. Steel is more expensive with those tariffs in place, so some small manufacturers don't like the tariffs.
The bottom line is this, if they did not lift the tariffs they would have a trade war -- the European Union alone promising some $2.2 billion in sanctions against U.S. goods. China, Japan, South Korea ready to follow suit. So then you could have products, say, from Florida or the Carolinas impacted.
The White House says the cleanest way to get out of this is to avert a trade war, lift the sanctions. Officials also believe both the U.S. steel industry and particularly the overall U.S. economy are in much stronger shape now than when the president put these tariffs in place 20 months ago.
WOODRUFF: All right. So the announcement is maybe coming this week?
KING: We're expecting it by the end of this week, perhaps even Wednesday or Thursday. But several more meetings here at the White House before they lock in a date.
