to avoid counter-productive trade "wars" (although that's really too strong a word...overall tariffs were reduced substantially under GATT a few years back)

Besides steel on our end, Europe has a problem buying our entertainment, agricultural products, biotechnology - and remember that ridicuous banana tariff story a few years ago?

The WTO should be a more effective negociating forum to avoid these kind of silly tiffs.

Of course it doesn't help when domestic politics puts up intense pressure for unfair subsidies and tariffs - here in the US, Democrats and unions are complaining that the steel tariffs aren't high enough!