Imports and Domestic Steel

For U.S. steel manufacturers, 1983 was not a banner year; one-third of U.S. steelworkers were on layoff, it was the industry’s second consecutive unprofitable year, and the market share of imports set a record high. Domestic steel manufacturers responded by appealing to the U.S. Congress to set global limits on imported steel and in November 1983, the Fair Trade in Steel Act was introduced. This act calls for setting import quotas at 15 percent of the domestic market supply for five years. (The foreign market share was 26.2 percent in the first three quarters of 1984). In September 1984, President Reagan announced he would push for voluntary restraints on foreign steel producers to limit imports of finished steel products to around 18.5 percent of the American market, and by December 1984, some major foreign steel producers had agreed to a five-year-long limit on exports to the United States