WASHINGTON -- U.S. President George W. Bush's decision to impose tariffs on steel imports into the United States has been decried as a politically motivated and economically ruinous move that marks the end of free trade and initiates a battle in the World Trade Organization.

We could, of course, dispatch our experts again to WTO hearings and start the traditional international charges and countercharges. The better alternative is to use this occasion to informally delineate a U.S. trade strategy that lets our industry and foreign friends know where we stand and where we are headed. Doing so will provide predictability to the market and consistency to our decision-making, both of which will increase market confidence.

Here are the components of our trade strategy: First is world leadership. The U.S. carries the leadership mantle due to astute policymaking, a willingness to contribute to the greater global good, and fortuitous developments in history. Some of our allies desire to be the leaders when it comes to international economic standards but are happy to let us bear the burden of armed conflict or the risk of terrorism. Global leadership is not a partitionable function, applicable to only a few issues: It is all encompassing.