This is the type of problem that the World Trade Organization is supposed to deal with. But, the issue is highly political in the United States and members of Congress have sidestepped the multilateral process. The steel industry in the United States employs only 260,000 people but it has enormous political clout. This was a kind of warning shot across the bows of people running for elected office. In addition a new president will be elected.
Protectionism is usually a smoldering issue in the United States.
It doesn t take much in an election year to fan it into full flame. The problem revolves around defiance of WTO rulings such as the European Union efforts to avoid lifting its ban on beef containing growth hormones. In April 1999, the WTO ruled for the third time that the European Union must change its banana import rules. The Dispute Settlement Body says the EU has restrictions in place which unfairly discriminate against American fruit distributors. However, the Europeans have used delaying tactics and the launch of counter complaints to avoid changing its rules.