Foreign steel producers plague the U.S. steel industry with unfair competitive practices. This practice is referred to as "dumping". Dumping of foreign steel has been a problem throughout the history of the U.S. steel industry. In the 1990s dumping has become more of a problem, due to the breakdown of the Russian economy and its transition from Capitalism to a free-market economy. According to Microsoft Encarta 98 (1998), Free-Market Economy, is an economic system in which individuals, rather than government, make the majority of decisions regarding economic activities and transactions. In addition, the Asian financial crisis has led to another round of dumping into the U.S. markets by many Asian countries.The effects of dumping have a positive as well as a negative impact on the health of the overall U.S. economy. On the positive side, steel-using industries enjoy lower prices for steel used in the manufacture of their products. Turning to the negative side, the U.S. steel industry has suffered tremendously through layoffs and a collapse of a number of steel makers. Should the U.S. Government provide protection against dumping? The debate on protectionism has gone on for years. Protection of one industry by the U.S. Government has come at the cost of another including the U.S. consumer.BREIF HISTORY OF THE STEEL INDUSTRYThe steel industry grew out of the need for stronger and more easily produced metals. During the last half of the 19th century, many technological advances in steelmaking played an important role in creating modern economies. These economies depended on the steel industry to supply rails, autos, girders, bridges, and many other steel products. Iron making can be traced as far back as 3,500 b.c. in Armenia. The Bessemer process, created independently by Henry Bessemer in England and William Kelly in the United States during the 1850s, allowed the mass production of low-cost steel; the open hearth process, fi...
