During the Vietnam War, a peculiar strand of U.S. logic was revealed when an official argued that a village had to be destroyed to save it from the North Vietnamese. A version of that tortured thinking has been resurrected recently as U.S. officials have struggled to justify President George W. Bush's decision to impose tariffs on steel imports. The move is indefensible except in the narrowest terms: Mr. Bush is protecting a powerful domestic political constituency. In so doing, he has undermined his credibility as an advocate of free trade and may well have torpedoed the next round of trade talks -- negotiations that he had championed only months ago.

Since taking office, Mr. Bush has been a tireless advocate of free trade. But the president abandoned that rhetoric recently when he decided to impose 30 percent tariffs on most steel imports. U.S. steel companies had been pushing for relief since 1998, but then President Bill Clinton refused to provide it, fearing that such a move would prompt retaliation by trading partners.

Mr. Bush was the beneficiary of his predecessor's commitment to free trade. Mr. Clinton's refusal to provide relief prompted steel industry states, most notably West Virginia, which has traditionally voted for the Democratic Party, to support Mr. Bush. Many observers credit his narrow win in 2000 to those election defections. Mr. Bush's decision is designed to solidify that support in steel-producing states.