At our meeting of April 11th, our speaker was our own Bethlehem Rotarian, Hank Barnette, the former Chairman and CEO of Bethlehem Steel, who also served on the President’s Trade Advisory Committee for Trade Policy (ACPTN) under both Presidents George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton. Hank spoke about the “Steel Trade”, and covered the impending steel and aluminum tariffs, including the rationale of the Trump Administration in the imposition of the tariffs. As you may know, Hank was a guest on the March 6th “Squawk on the Street” program on CNBC which is broadcast live from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Here is a link to that program https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/03/06/fmr-bethlehem-steel-ceo-must-be-a-remedy-to-threat-to-our-economy.html.
Our meeting format was a three part program, with background and opening remarks by Hank, followed by a few structured questions from Bethlehem Rotarian, Brennan Pursell, MBA, PhD. Brennan is professor at DeSales University and an author and founder of the website Exportmeister.com , The third segment of our meeting was to allow for questions from the floor.
We learned from Hank that the primary objective of the U.S. Commerce Department is to have “rules based trade” in order to maintain order and stability, both domestically and internationally. We also learned that the imposition of the Tariffs was the result of a Commerce Department study which the president commissioned last year, and that the purpose is to create a remedy for trade violations which have negative effects on American companies.
Brennan’s questions were designed to shed light on some of the issues being debated on the broadcast and print media, and give Hank a chance to expand further clarify his reaction to the points. We learned that there are already a significant number of tariffs in place on a host of imported goods, all of which are designed to keep trade stable and orderly.
Questions from the floor were spirited and interesting, and we all left with a better understanding of the issues involved, knowing that understanding and debate are core values of our American Democracy. Thanks to Hank Barnette and Brennan Pursell for a great program.
Announcements:
At our April 18th meeting, we will be honoring Tip Mowrer with his Paul Harris +4 award. Tip is our most tenured member, having joined Bethlehem Rotary in 1959. Please come to honor him.
Our program for April 18th will be a presentation by Tom Tenges of the Bethlehem Mounted Police.
I reminded members about the upcoming District 7430 Conference on April 27-29th. You can sign up for the Saturday only session for $99, and receive a full reimbursement from our club. The District Conference is a great opportunity to network with Rotarians from other clubs, while learning about other service opportunities from the experts...
On April 20th, Bethlehem Morningstar Club will be having their annual Spaghetti Dinner at Cathedral Church of the Nativity on the South Side. Please support the event.
Tree Planting Challenge- Are you concerned about our environment? Please take a look at RI President Ian Riseley’s challenge to all Rotary Clubs, https://www.esrag.org/tree-planting-challenge .
International Rotaract event marks program's 50th year
Members of Rotaract, Rotary's program for young leaders ages 18 to 30, gathered in Taipei, Taiwan, for their triennial Interota convention. Attendees marked the occasion with song, dance, and participation in service projects, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the program this year. See photos of the event, and serve, celebrate, and share 50 years of Rotaract.
