Never thought I'd find myself rooting for the WTO, even a little bit.
WTO rules against steel tariffs.
Protectionism is usually a lousy idea, and if Bush just did it to get Northeast votes, it's even lousier. The only result is retaliation, and worse. There is a lot of evidence that trade barriers and the resulting trade wars were instrumental in bringing on or at least worsening the Great Depression. Not all conservatives agree with me on this. Many think at least some protection is required to protect American jobs and strategic capacity. I can see their point, but putting a penny in the economic fuse box isn't going to work in the long run anyway.