Obama's Tire Tariff Smacks of Special Interest

Barack Obama won the election on a platform of change with particular reference toward minimizing the role of special interests in politics and he did some great work early in his term to reduce the influence of lobbyists, but whats up with his recent decision to impose a 35% tariff on Chinese tire imports?

The AFL-CIO and the United Steelworkers pushed for the tariff but the Tire Industry Association (TIA) strongly opposed it. Shouldn't the TIA have more say in tire trade than the AFL-CIO or the United Steelworkers? The issue isn't 100% clear cut because the the United Steelworkers do represent some tire factory workers and some of the tire manufacturers did want protection, but it sure seems like the special interests won at the expense of the general public.