impact on American steel production.
Complicating matters is importance of steel production to American interests. Steel is vital to every branch of America's defense. For example, it is used in the production of our tanks, ships, and advanced aircraft. Only a broad and commercially viable domestic steel industry can reliably produce the highly specialized steel products the Department of Defense and its myriad contractors require to produce the military means to America's might. Indeed, over five million tons of steel each year go into Department of Defense built military products. Steel's importance to American security extends beyond the military, however, as it also girds critical infrastructure such as our bridges and roadways. Foreign production cannot be relied upon to be the sole supplier of our nation's steel. As such, it is a direct national interest to ensure that a broad, vibrant, and viable domestic steel industry exists (AISI, 2001).
It is for this reason that both Republican and Democratic Presidents have attempted to protect the domestic steel market from foreign competition. This has occurred despite American participation in an increasing number of free trade pacts, and the World Trade Organization. Under the Reagan Administration, for instance, the steel industry won comprehensive, albeit temporary, protection. Reagan instituted a series of export restraint agreements with key producers in 1985. However, the industry was relatively healthy in the 1980's and early 1990's. It was only in the middle of the 1990's, during Clinton's presidency, that the industry began to decline (Destler, 2004).
President Clinton, with extensive Congressional support, responded with a variety of protectionist measures in the 90's. As imports surged in the mid 90's, Clinton's White House initiated more than a hundred anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations on foreign steel products. A company is sa...