Douglas Alexander: “President Bush is working very hard to get this economy moving again. I have strongly supported his jobs growth and tax…”

“President Bush is working very hard to get this economy moving again. I have strongly supported his jobs growth and tax cut plans. I believe his hard work and those plans are paying off. But in one case I want to respectfully suggest that the President consider making a midcourse correction. That case is the sad story of steel tariffs. It is a story of an honest effort by our President to save jobs that has backfired. The backfire could not be coming at a worse time. As our economy recovers--and I believe that it is--the last thing our country needs is a wave of plant closings in the auto and auto parts industry. But that is exactly what will happen if the steel tariffs continue. The tariffs have become a job killer in the United States and a jobs growth program for Korea, Japan, Germany, and other countries that produce quality auto parts. In March 2002, the Bush administration imposed tariffs of up to 30 percent on 10 different categories of steel imported from Europe, Asia, and South America. The tariffs may have saved a few steel-producing jobs for the time being. But since their institution in March 2002, the steel tariffs have already destroyed nearly as many jobs in the steel-consuming companies of America as exist in the entire domestic steel-producing industry. Some auto parts plants in my State of Tennessee are already closing because of the higher cost of steel imposed by the tariffs.”