Wash Times: The new U.S. ambassador to Germany, a wealthy industrialist, angered leading German business executives even before he landed in Berlin because his firm reaps tens of millions of dollars a year that targeted German companies pay in high U.S. tariffs.
Ambassador William R. Timken Jr., former chairman of the Timken Co., headed one of the world's leading manufacturers of roller bearings, which are used in just about any machine with moving parts. He resigned his position when he accepted the ambassadorial appointment.
His company is the chief beneficiary of tariffs imposed on Germany's roller bearing firms that Washington accuses of "dumping" their product at below the cost of manufacture on the U.S. market. The World Trade Organization ruled the tariffs illegal in 2003, but the Bush administration has ignored the WTO decision.
Mr. Timken, also a major campaign fundraiser for President Bush, received an icy welcome in Germany from industrialists such as Jurgen Geissinger, president of the Federation of European Bearing Manufacturers Associations.
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