The Politics of Steel Trade1. Does the World Trade Organization represent a loss of national sovereignty for the United States in this case? Why do you think the WTO sided with the European Union? I don't think the Trade and Labor Organization represents a loss of U.S. national sovereignty. In this case, the WTO is simply doing its job: overseeing international trade and enforcing the agreement signed by all WTO member countries, including the United States. I think the World Trade Organization could have sided with the European Union because they felt the United States had gone too far with the tariffs. They probably thought that if they allowed the EU to impose tariffs on the United States that could ultimately harm trade between the two countries and trigger a trade war, the United States might come to its senses. I believe this was an attempt by the World Trade Organization to establish a truce between the two countries.2. If all tariffs on international steel trade were removed and subsidies to steel exporters around the world were banned, who would benefit? Who would lose from such an action? The net beneficiaries of such a move would be steel consumers around the world. They would benefit from the most competitive prices the industry can offer. There are two potential losers in such an action. First, all domestic producers who are not competitive would lose out because they would face competition from low-priced imports. Second, all exporters who previously benefited from local subsidies would lose because their governments cannot subsidize their production.3. Search where/now.a. Are there any big changes in the steel industry?b. Is this a big change to accompany what will happen to the steel industry in the future? Basically, there are two major things happening in the steel industry: globalization and consolidation among steelmakers. China, as the largest consumer of steel, also strongly influences the industry. The recent article from The Economist below actually answers both of these questions and provides excellent examples: Just six years ago, when investors were still in the grip of a dot-com bubble that didn't had not yet broken out, steel was derided as one of the last bastions of the economy. “old” economy. Many companies in the sector were state-owned or heavily protected by governments keen to preserve assets deemed vital to national interests. Globalization has left the steel sector behind. The fact that Arcelor, a company created in 2001 by the merger of the largest French, Spanish and Luxembourg steelmakers, last week launched a hostile bid for C$4.