America cannot afford to auction off its industrial base – Sen. J.D. Vance/WaPost
“The risks of a foreign acquisition are especially palpable. The Biden administration has left President Donald Trump’s Section 232 tariffs on steel imports in place, recognizing that the preservation of the domestic steel industry remains vital to our national security. Regardless of a foreign buyer’s motives, the foreign ownership of assets of such national importance could jeopardize our security.”
Domestic Steel Manufacturing: Overview and Prospects – CRS
“Over the past decade, the share of U.S. steel consumption supplied by domestic mills has varied from 70% to 90%. A growing share of domestic production comes from “mini-mills” that melt steel scrap or direct reduced iron in electric arc furnaces, continuing the long-standing shift away from large, integrated mills that use ovens to heat coal into coke, combine the coke with iron ore in a blast furnace to produce pig iron, and then melt the pig iron in a basic oxygen furnace to produce liquid steel. The mini-mill sector maintains lower capital and energy costs per ton produced than the integrated mill sector. In addition, it has a largely nonunion workforce compared with highly unionized integrated mills. Many mini-mills are located in the South, with some in the Midwest and West, whereas most integrated mills are in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.”