AnnotatedOpinions.com

U.S. steel makers are cheering an International Trade Commission vote Wednesday to impose new duties on imports from China. U.S. consumers will want to hold their applause.  

The case was filed in April by domestic steel manufacturers and the United Steelworkers union, which argued that they had been injured by imports of subsidized steel from China. The ruling allows the Commerce Department to impose countervailing duties ranging from 10% to 16% on future imports from China of “oil country tubular goods,” which are the pipes used in the oil and gas industry. . . [AO: Ok. China illegally subsidizes its steel industry. This hurts American Steel Companies by keeping prices artificially low. U.S. steel manufacturers and the United Steelworkers union bring a case against China before the International Trade Commission and win.   

Should we be happy that U.S. workers are fighting for their jobs against subsidized Chinese production? Not according to the Wall Street Journal.]  

China will no doubt respond to this latest protectionism with more tariffs of its own against U.S. products or investment, further increasing the cost of this protectionism. . . [AO: See, this is about
protectionism. This is not about China cheating and getting caught. This is not about the U.S. being given the option to rectify an injustice perpetrated against American workers by China. No. To hear the Wall Street Journal tell it, this is about the U.S. being protectionist.  

Know what? The U.S. is being protectionist. The U.S. is protecting its citizens—hardworking Americans who have seen their industry decimated by, among other things, cheating on the part of other countries—from, yes, cheating. There is nothing wrong with protecting American families here.]