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Robert Samuelson rips Bush's needless trade war. Samualson has some interesting data on the improved productivity of the U.S. steel industry. Quotable:

In 1974, industry employment exceeded 500,000; at the end of last year, it was 124,000. But it's untrue that the United States is leaving the steel business. In 1970 American mills shipped 91 million tons of steel, and imports supplied 14 percent of U.S. demand. Since 1996 U.S. mills have shipped an average of 103 million tons annually and imports have averaged 21 percent of demand. Bigger, more labor-intensive mills have gradually closed, to be replaced by smaller, more efficient mini-mills ...

Plants of bankrupt steel companies have been purchased at low prices by healthier firms, including the new International Steel Group (ISG). For example, ISG bought the mills of bankrupt Bethlehem Steel. In 2002 these mills employed 12,100 people. ISG renegotiated the labor agreements. Job classifications dropped from 30 to five; by June 2003 the mills were run with roughly 30 percent fewer workers.