U.S. Steel Tariffs free essay sample

An opinion essay defending U.S. Steel tariffs recently imposed by the Bush administration on imported steel. This paper explains the U.S. Steel tariffs and when and why they were put in place. It presents an argument defending the tariffs, and discusses how these tariffs impact international business and world wide relations for the United States. On March 5, 2002, the Bush administration imposed a 30 percent tariff on steel imports over the next three years. The tariffs exclude members of the North American Free Trade Agreement, including Canada and Mexico. Imports from developing nations that account for less than 3 percent of the total for individual steel product lines are also excluded. Duties ranging from 8 percent to 30 percent took effect on March 20, 2002. The tariffs cover flat-rolled steel and other steel product imports from countries including Brazil, South Korea, Japan, Russia, Germany, Turkey, France, China, Australia, and the Netherlands and will remain in place for three years (Bush 2002). We will write a custom essay sample on U.S. Steel Tariffs or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page President Bush faced few alternatives to save the nations beleaguered steel industry. United States trade representative, Robert Zoellick, expressed that the American steel industry was basically up against the wall and that Bushs actions would restore the strength and profitability of the industry. Approximately thirty-one steel companies have filed for bankruptcy since 1998, the year of the Asian financial crisis that prompted a flood of cheap steel into the United States, causing steel prices to tumble to 20 year lows. The Bush administration defended import restrictions as an effort to eliminate some of the 200 million tons of global excess steel-making capacity (Bush 2002). Originally demanding 40 percent tariffs over four years, the U.S. steel makers seem content with the imposed 30 percent over three years. The Bush administration faced strong political pressure to protect the industry from the crushing effects of imports from the political battleground states such as Penn sylvania, Ohio and Illinois (Bush 2002).

Abraham Lincoln Essays

Abraham Lincoln Essays Abraham Lincoln Essay Abraham Lincoln Essay Abraham Lincoln BY cbailey7262 Abraham Lincolns killer, John Wilkes Booth, was a Maryland native born in 1838 who remained in the North during the Civil War despite his Confederate sympathies. As the conflict entered its final stages, he and several associates hatched a plot to kidnap the president and take him to Richmond, the Confederate capital. However, on March 20, 1865, the day of the planned kidnapping, Lincoln failed to appear at the spot where Booth and his six fellow conspirators lay in wait. Two weeks later, Richmond fell to Union forces. In April, with Confederate armies near collapse across the South, Booth came up with a desperate plan to save the Confederacy. Learning that Lincoln was to attend Laura Keenes acclaimed performance of Our American Cousin at Fords Theatre in Washington, D. C. , on April 14, Booth†himself a well-known actor at the time†masterminded the simultaneous assassination of Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William H. Seward. By urdering the president and two of his possible successors, Booth and his co- conspirators hoped to throw the U. S. government into disarray. Lincoln occupied a private box above the stage with his wife Mary, a young army officer named Henry Rathbone and Rathbones fianc? ©, Clara Harris, the daughter of New York Senator Ira Harris. The Lincolns arrived late for the comedy, but the president was reportedly in a fine mood and laughed heartily during the production. At 10:15, Booth slipped into the box and fired his . -caliber single-shot derringer into the back of Lincolns head. After stabbing Rathbone, who immediately rushed at him, in the shoulder, Booth leapt onto the stage and shouted, Sic semper tyrannis! (Thus ever to tyrants! -the Virginia state motto). At first, the crowd interpreted the unfolding drama as part of the production, but a scream from the first lady told them otherwise. Although Booth broke his leg in the fall, he managed to leave the theater and escape from W ashington on horseback.