Not so long ago, the European Union (EU) decided to flex their muscle. You see, President Bush had decided it was a good idea to increase steel tariffs on imported steel in order to give our steel manufacturers more of a fighting chance. Keep the prices artificially high until they have a chance to recover, then we’ll be able to compete fairly. Does anyone notice the problems with this statement?
The EU did. They threatened retalitory tariffs on our exports – products from Harley-Davidson motorcycles to orange juice. Guess what happened. That’s right, Dubya backed down.
Don’t get me wrong – I don’t blame him for doing so. To try and keep up such a farce would be suicide. Where I have a problem is that these tactics exist in the first place. Why is it the place of our government to subsidize industries that can’t make it on their own? Why do they think that this form of protectionism is good for us? This is the very thing that we don’t need.
The problem is that once we set this precedent, it will happen over and over again. Now that they’ve tasted success, the EU wants to taste it again. Just like the last time, they are targeting states seen as crucial to the president’s re-election bid. And just like last time, we will surely cave.
We aren’t in the catbirds seat any longer, America. It’s time to put up or shut up. Instead of listening to our egos, why don’t we speak with our hearts? Rather than letting ourselves get caught up in the minutiae, we ought to just show up and do our jobs. It’s time to crawl out from under the government’s coattails.