“The single worst decision of his Presidency” — A Wall Street Journal editorial characterizing the steel tariffs imposed on imported steel by President
George W. Bush

Client:

The Consuming Industries Trade Action Coalition Steel Task Force (CITAC STF),
a coalition of steel consuming companies and associations, from large companies such as Emerson Electronics to mom-and-pop metalformers, throughout the United States.
 

The Assignment:

In March 2002, President George Bush abandoned his free trade principles and imposed three-year tariffs of up to 30% on imported steel. Within six months, prices rose as high as 70 percent — disrupting steel supplies and severely damaging U.S. steel consuming companies. The PBN Company’s assignment was to generate political pressure on the Bush Administration to end the steel tariffs immediately following the U.S. International Trade Commission’s (ITC) mid-point review in Fall 2003 (the first legal date that the tariffs could be repealed).
 

PBN’s Strategy:

The PBN Company needed to change the debate focus from “foreign vs. U.S steel producers” to the damage tariffs inflicted on the 13 million hard-working Americans employed by U.S. steel consuming industries. Even though less than 200,000 Americans work in the U.S. steel producing industry, steel producers have had a stranglehold on steel trade policy for the past 30 years. To overcome this politically entrenched and well-financed foe, The PBN Company devised a campaign that gave a strong and persuasive voice to steel consumers in Washington DC.
 

Results:

To the surprise of political pundits across the nation, President Bush overturned the steel tariffs on December 4, 2003 — 15 months earlier than they were scheduled to end. The PBN Company and our client succeeded in changing the politics of steel and, for the first time, gave American steel consuming companies their due influence in this debate. Hundreds of news articles and dozens of editorials (seven alone in The Wall Street Journal) helped create the necessary political pressure on the Bush Administration to do what was right — end steel tariffs on imported steel.
 

CITAC Study Shows 200,000 U.S. Jobs Lost Nationwide From High Steel Prices in 2002 - Steel Tariffs an Important Cause, February 4, 2003. Read

CITAC Steel Task Force: Steel Consumers Tell President Bush to "Terminate The Tariffs!", September 19, 2003. Read

CITAC STF: President Bush's Decision to End Steel Tariffs is Right for Steel Consumers, Manufacturing Sector, And the Economy , December 4, 2003. Read

For more information, please contact:
Paul.Nathanson@pbnco.com