Washington ? Top White House advisers are recommending that President Bush roll back steep tariffs on foreign-made steel to avoid a global trade war, administration and industry officials said Monday.

A senior Bush adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity, said several key aides and agencies, including the office of the U.S. trade representative, had recommended the president drop the tariffs that he imposed in March 2002 to ease foreign competition while the beleaguered U.S. steel industry consolidates and restructures.

A small number of tariffs might be left in place on specialty steel products, according to an industry official who has had discussions with key members of the administration. But he said that was beginning to look less and less likely.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the threat of retaliation by the European Union tipped the balance.

The White House said the matter was still being discussed.

The EU renewed its threat Monday to slap billions of dollars in retaliatory sanctions on U.S. products unless the Bush administration repeals all steel tariffs declared illegal by the World Trade Organization.

EU spokeswoman Arancha Gonzalez in Brussels said the 15-nation trading bloc would respond with $2.2 billion in sanctions on U.S. exports if the tariffs were not completely abolished, as demanded by the WTO.

Bush was expected to act before the WTO’s dispute settlement body meets Dec. 10. If the tariffs are still in place by then, the EU, Norway and Japan could retaliate five days later to protest the tariffs that are currently set to expire in March 2005.

During the next two days, Bush is visiting two battleground states — Michigan and Pennsylvania — where voters are fiercely divided on the steel tariffs.

Longshore workers prepare to unload a shipload of unprocessed steel at the 21 million BHP Coated Steel Corp. mill near Kalama, Wash. President Bush is expected to decide whether to keep the tariffs on imported steel before the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement body meets Dec. 10. The European Union has threatened to impose sanctions on U.S. imports if the tariffs are not dropped.

The tariffs endeared the GOP president to traditionally Democratic steelworkers in states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. But coming on the heels of a slumping economy, the tariffs have angered owners and employees of small manufacturing companies that make up part of his GOP base in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Collectively, those states account for almost one-third of the 270 electoral votes Bush needs to win re-election.

“It’s a very big decision for the president from the political standpoint,” said Bill Green, a Pittsburgh-based Republican political consultant. “I understand the WTO pressure. But it’s at least 60 electoral votes involved. That has to weigh heavily on this president.”