ABSTRACT
The United States iron and steel industry has suffered serious decline, resulting in part from conditions of international trade and production. In addition to "targeting" the United States market in terms of volume, pressures on foreign governments to maintain full steel employment and maximize production tonnage have led to export sales to the United States. In 1973-74, when unusually strong demand for steel mill products everywhere created a world steel shortage, most United States and foreign mills were operating at or near full capacity. Substantial foreign-government involvement in steel is responsible for the world overcapacity problem-and is the main obstacle to its solution. In the developing world, governments have viewed steel as an essential building block of national economic development and as a means of enhancing national prestige. In Japan, the remarkable growth and development of the steel industry went hand in hand with close business-government cooperation.
