The Two Faces of U.S. Trade Policy : Advocating Free Trade While Practicing Protectionism with Emphasis on Applying Antidumping Laws Against Republics of the Former Soviet Union (CIS)

President George W. Bush ran on a platform of free trade during the 2000 election. Yet shortly after he took office he started engaging in protectionist trade practices. The 30 percent tariffs imposed on steel and Canadian lumber were only two of the most noticeable examples of practicing protectionism while preaching free trade. George W. Bush is not the only president to have engaged in this kind of behavior. President Clinton and his predecessors have also preached this "do as I say, not as I do" philosophy. This paper examines the U.S. government policy of promoting free trade on the one hand while sabotaging it on the other. The focus is on how the antidumping laws are used to prevent trade with the 15 former Soviet republics