Rough trade from the US

Almost forgotten among the hubbub over the Iraqi war is the last bout of diplomatic fisticuffs between Europe and America. On 5 March 2002, George W. Bush issued Presidential Proclamation 7529, placing tariffs of 30 per cent on imported steel in an attempt to protect the fading American steel industry. At the time, this magazine warned that no good would come of the measure, and so it has proved. The US International Trade Commission, a federal agency which advises the US government on trade issues, has just published a report on the effects of the tariffs. Far from being boosted, the US steel industry’s share of worldwide steel production fell from 12.4 to 10.2 per cent, while its share of the US market increased by a measly 1.4 per cent, from 79.6 per cent to 81 per cent. Thirty-one steel companies have gone under, and the number of workers employed by the industry has fallen by 10 per cent.

US steel producers have, however, taken advantage of the tariffs to put up their prices. Prices of US-produced hot-bar steel, for example, have risen by 8.1 per cent. American industries that consume rather than produce steel have been grievously hurt, especially the car industry, where 20,000 jobs have been lost. Overall, concludes the ITC, the cost to the US of the import tariffs was a reduction in GDP of $30.4 million.

Let that, as they say, be a warning to others: not just to ignore this magazine at their peril but to avoid falling into the trap of protectionism. As a generator of wealth, free trade cannot be beaten. That much was clear to anybody visiting Antwerp, Venice and the other great trading city-states in mediaeval times.