While the US steel industry has been in distress for decades, the "steel crisis" of 1999-2001 was particularly acute. More than 30 steel producing and steel processing firms fell into bankruptcy between 1997 and 2001, and most of the failures occurred after President Bush took office. During his...

In November 2002, the United States proposed that members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) eliminate their tariffs on nonagricultural products. World exports of nonagricultural goods, which were $5.4 trillion in 2001 (WTO 2002), would substantially expand if the US proposal were adopted. In...

In May 2003, the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute panel ruled that US steel safeguards imposed in March 2002 are illegal. The WTO Appellate Body is all but certain to confirm the panel's judgment, probably by December 2003. Then the Bush administration will face an important choice. It can...

The US Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank is again at the center of controversy, as Congress debates the terms for its charter renewal. This policy brief critiques provisions of the House and Senate versions of the reauthorization bill and summarizes three justifications for Congress giving adequate...

Everyone agrees that the US steel industry is distressed. The disagreement is over the role of imports: to what extent is foreign steel the culprit? Before turning to this critical issue, it is worth recounting the highlights of the steel industry's difficulties. In the past four years, 29 US...

Once again the steel industry is distressed. And once again Washington is looking for trade "solutions" when it should be searching elsewhere. There is nothing new about either story. But, can't we do something better this time?