The Reinstated Steel Trigger Price Mechanism: Reinforced Barrier to Import Competition

Early in 1978 the Carter Administration implemented a trigger price mechanism (TPM) to aid the distressed United States steel industry. Although the TPM by its terms is a monitoring system, the controversy it has aroused suggests that its actual function extends far beyond mere monitoring of steel imports. Part I of this Comment will examine the TPM in the context of world steel trade to show how the original system actually functioned, and how the new version is likely to operate. Part II will explore the ways in which this import relief program is inconsistent with traditional United States trade law and policy