(Washington, D.C.)  The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) today praised President Bush for his decision to lift the Section 201 steel tariffs fifteen months prior to their scheduled termination.  Following is the statement from CCAGW President Tom Schatz:

“On behalf of the more than one million members and supporters of CCAGW, I commend President Bush for his decision to repeal the tariffs on imported steel.  They were imposed at a high cost to consumers and taxpayers, as evidenced by an International Trade Commission (ITC) report which revealed that the cost of the tariffs to the private sector has been almost $2 billion.  The only benefit to the U.S. economy cited by the ITC was the approximately $650 million collected in tariff ‘revenues’ (i.e., taxes) from U.S. consumers, and CCAGW members do not count a $650 million tax increase as a benefit to the economy.

“Tariffs and other corporate welfare policies put in place by both Republicans and Democrats as a result of a 30-year lobbying campaign by the U.S. steel industry have stimulated the greed of corporations unwilling to compete in the marketplace, costing U.S. consumers and taxpayers more than $100 billion during that time.

“Steel tariffs have allowed the steel industry to shut out foreign competition while receiving taxpayer subsidies.  The effect of these market-binding mechanisms causes economic reverberations throughout the country, as evidenced by the economic damage caused by the steel tariffs.

“The repeal of the steel tariffs will help to restore U.S. international credibility and avoid certain retaliation by U.S. trading partners.  The credibility of the U.S. is imperative in order to move forward in negotiating freer trade worldwide, which will benefit consumers and taxpayers in the long term.”

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government.