Lifting the steel tariff.

[CCTAU 3,350]

I didn't like it to begin with. I thought it was like the bailing out of the airlines. Hey, if there is a need for something, somebody will buy up the assets and keep it going.

The government is not here to keep business in business. So I think that Pres. Bush now sees the international issues caused when you try to keep a dying industry alive.

Tariffs

[Ranger12 46]

It's a tough call. You have to try to protect American businesses in one hand, but also keep the American consumer in mind on the other hand. While trying to protect the US steel trade, American consumers are having to pay alot more for steel then we should have to. Lift the tariffs, and prices will drop back down and steel is used in more (buildings for new business, everday supplies, etc.), but the US companies will suffer. Don't know where you can stand on this. Depends on where your money is I guess.

[DKW 86 7,448]

There are certain industries we need open here in the states. Should we ever get into a prolonged war, God Forbid, we will need steel industry here to be strong.

I am very conservative, can you tell? But I do thinkwe need to help the steel industry.

[Donutboy 0]

It's a tough call. You have to try to protect American businesses in one hand, but also keep the American consumer in mind on the other hand. While trying to protect the US steel trade, American consumers are having to pay alot more for steel then we should have to. Lift the tariffs, and prices will drop back down and steel is used in more (buildings for new business, everday supplies, etc.), but the US companies will suffer. Don't know where you can stand on this. Depends on where your money is I guess.

Industry is the backbone of this nation and the Wal-Marting of our nation is destroying the American industry.

Why should we have to worry about them putting tariffs on our goods? We have a $90 billion dollar monthly trade deficit with the rest of the world. THEY'RE the ones who need us, not the other way around.

This nation's workers cannot compete against slave labor in other parts of the world. Our companies cannot compete against companies in other third world countries where they don't have to pay for workers health care. Our companies cannot compete against other countries that have little or no pollution standards.

We shouldn't have to lower our way of living to match the third world countries. We should be trying to make them raise their standards instead.

If you pay that Mexican or Chinese worker a decent wage, he'll be able to buy the product he builds and industry will get stronger. On the other hand, if you keep shipping jobs out of this country to pay peasant wages, there'll come a time when there'll be no one left to buy the products being manufactured because all of the jobs will be gone.

I'd like to have seen Bush tell the Europeans that when they placed tariffs on our products, they'd get the same in return on some more of their's. If any industry in this country needs to be protected, it's the steel industry. When the steel industry is gone, we'll be at the mercy of other nations and we should never put ourselves in that position.

[Ranger12 46]

It's a tough call. You have to try to protect American businesses in one hand, but also keep the American consumer in mind on the other hand. While trying to protect the US steel trade, American consumers are having to pay alot more for steel then we should have to. Lift the tariffs, and prices will drop back down and steel is used in more (buildings for new business, everday supplies, etc.), but the US companies will suffer. Don't know where you can stand on this. Depends on where your money is I guess.

Industry is the backbone of this nation and the Wal-Marting of our nation is destroying the American industry.

Why should we have to worry about them putting tariffs on our goods? We have a $90 billion dollar monthly trade deficit with the rest of the world. THEY'RE the ones who need us, not the other way around.

This nation's workers cannot compete against slave labor in other parts of the world. Our companies cannot compete against companies in other third world countries where they don't have to pay for workers health care. Our companies cannot compete against other countries that have little or no pollution standards.

We shouldn't have to lower our way of living to match the third world countries. We should be trying to make them raise their standards instead.

If you pay that Mexican or Chinese worker a decent wage, he'll be able to buy the product he builds and industry will get stronger. On the other hand, if you keep shipping jobs out of this country to pay peasant wages, there'll come a time when there'll be no one left to buy the products being manufactured because all of the jobs will be gone.

I'd like to have seen Bush tell the Europeans that when they placed tariffs on our products, they'd get the same in return on some more of their's. If any industry in this country needs to be protected, it's the steel industry. When the steel industry is gone, we'll be at the mercy of other nations and we should never put ourselves in that position.

Hope you did not take that to think I supported it either way. I was just giving both sides of the argument. As somebody that used to work in the steel industry, I know it needs to be supported. But I also know that alot of steel plants were being shut down because the price of steel became too high because of protecting the industry. Again, it is a Catch-22.

[Donutboy 0]

It's a tough call. You have to try to protect American businesses in one hand, but also keep the American consumer in mind on the other hand. While trying to protect the US steel trade, American consumers are having to pay alot more for steel then we should have to. Lift the tariffs, and prices will drop back down and steel is used in more (buildings for new business, everday supplies, etc.), but the US companies will suffer. Don't know where you can stand on this. Depends on where your money is I guess.

Industry is the backbone of this nation and the Wal-Marting of our nation is destroying the American industry.

Why should we have to worry about them putting tariffs on our goods? We have a $90 billion dollar monthly trade deficit with the rest of the world. THEY'RE the ones who need us, not the other way around.

This nation's workers cannot compete against slave labor in other parts of the world. Our companies cannot compete against companies in other third world countries where they don't have to pay for workers health care. Our companies cannot compete against other countries that have little or no pollution standards.

We shouldn't have to lower our way of living to match the third world countries. We should be trying to make them raise their standards instead.

If you pay that Mexican or Chinese worker a decent wage, he'll be able to buy the product he builds and industry will get stronger. On the other hand, if you keep shipping jobs out of this country to pay peasant wages, there'll come a time when there'll be no one left to buy the products being manufactured because all of the jobs will be gone.

I'd like to have seen Bush tell the Europeans that when they placed tariffs on our products, they'd get the same in return on some more of their's. If any industry in this country needs to be protected, it's the steel industry. When the steel industry is gone, we'll be at the mercy of other nations and we should never put ourselves in that position.

Hope you did not take that to think I supported it either way. I was just giving both sides of the argument. As somebody that used to work in the steel industry, I know it needs to be supported. But I also know that alot of steel plants were being shut down because the price of steel became too high because of protecting the industry. Again, it is a Catch-22.

No, I was responding to CCT4AU who said he was FOR lifting the tariffs. I believe in free enterprise as much as the rest of you but when you're trading on the world market, there's a HUGE difference. Some of the nation's that our industry has to compete against has nationalized health care, taking a huge costs off the backs of the industries. Our industries have to pay their own health care costs for employees. Health care is the highest cost of American industry today!! Some nations have no environmental policies to meet, whereas our industries do.

It's more than just a payroll issue. Until the playing field is leveled, many of our industries simply can't compete with the third world country rules. BTW, when a nation, such as Japan or Canada, has health care paid by the state and can compete with our companies whose health care isn't, isn't that pretty much the same as placing "health care tariffs" on OUR goods?

[CCTAU 3,350]

There are certain industries we need open here in the states. Should we ever get into a prolonged war, God Forbid, we will need steel industry here to be strong.

I am very conservative, can you tell? But I do thinkwe need to help the steel industry.

Didn't look at it from that standpoint. I was comparing it to the airline bail-out. But you have a good point. Maybe the steel industry needs to take a look at the labor costs (the same as the auto industry). I sometimes feel we are trying to keep these industries in business but the workers are more willing to shut down the plants rather than lower wages. Tough call. but should we get into an economic war with the EU because of this?