How to Hurt American Business (NYTimes.com) EDITORIAL

Published: April 9, 2005

So much for the cheap dollar's help for United States exports. Beginning May 1, American companies that sell paper, textiles, machinery and farm produce to Europe are due to be slapped with punitive tariffs of 15 percent. Companies that sell oysters, live swine and certain types of fish to Canada will also be hit. Ditto for those selling certain products to Brazil, Chile, India, South Korea and Mexico.

Altogether, the tariffs will cost American exporters up to $150 million this year, but that's just the beginning. That number could multiply by leaps and bounds next year, unless Congress backs off its quest to tilt the global playing field in favor of politically powerful domestic steel companies.

So why is this happening? Back in 2000, Congress allowed a fiery protectionist, Senator Robert Byrd, to push through a bill that handed the tariffs that the government imposes on foreign competitors for supposed "dumping" infractions over to the American companies that filed the complaints. The money used to go to the Treasury.

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