Kerry says he’d fight imports of cheap steel

TAYLOR, Mich. – Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry told a crowd packed into a block of a small Midwestern town’s Main Street on Sunday that he would fight to prevent steel imports from taking American jobs, before winding up the day pitching for support from Michigan auto workers.

“The law is the law, you’re supposed to enforce the law,” Kerry said in Bowling Green, Ohio, referring to steps the president can take to stop foreign producers from dumping cheaper steel into markets.

“I promise you you’re going to have a president and vice president that will fight harder for your jobs than we do for our own,” he said.

President Bush imposed steep tariffs on steel imports in March 2002 to ease foreign competition and let the U.S. industry reorganize, but reversed course in December to avoid a threatened trade war with the European Union.

At the same time, the White House retained a system to temporarily monitor imports.

“The president visited Ohio, and the president told people in Ohio that the policies that had been put in place are working and they are going to lead to job gains,” said Bush spokesman Steve Schmidt.

Bush visited Ohio this week in a Midwest campaign swing that nearly crossed paths with Kerry’s caravan of campaign buses on Saturday. Both see Ohio’s 20 electoral votes as crucial to winning the election.

Kerry made his remarks during a hot afternoon stop on the third day of a two-week tour through battleground states across the country. The caravan of buses then rolled north into Michigan for an evening softball game, where Kerry called for the “cars of the future” to be made in America in part of his bid for auto workers’ votes.

Kerry joined the United Autoworkers Union – all in Team Kerry jerseys – to play the Down River Firefighters. Kerry scored two runs and was cheered by fans chanting, “MVP! Most Valuable President!”

“Outstanding catch by Senator Kerry,” the announcer said at one point.

Kerry earlier said he plans to use private negotiations to persuade other heads of state to assist in reconstructing Iraq, but he does not envision sending more U.S. troops there.

Kerry said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that a new president can make a “fresh start” with world leaders who opposed the war.

“If we demonstrate an America that has a foreign policy that is smarter, more engaged … and more respectful of the world, we’re going to bring people to our side,” Kerry said. “We’re not only not going to put additional troops there, that’s the way to bring our troops home.”

In a separate interview broadcast Sunday on CNN’s “Late Edition,” Kerry declined to specify a precise timetable for withdrawing the 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. But he did say, “I would consider it an unsuccessful policy if I hadn’t brought significant numbers of troops back within the first term.”

Kerry and running mate John Edwards did separate taped interviews with CBS, CNN, ABC and Fox, all of which were broadcast Sunday.

With Edwards sitting by his side, Kerry said on CBS that he is convinced that a Kerry administration could get NATO involved in Iraq. The interview was taped earlier in Greensburg, Pa.