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I usually donīt jump on any pissing matches, even less to try to talk about free markets to Americans, but this time I think I have something to add.
The problem with US steel mills is not overprotection only (whose existence, so far, I have not seen denied, even by Americans); true, overprotection brings (only to a few people, who probably wonīt give a shit if YOU lose your job tomorrow) higher salaries, higher profit margins, less motivation for improvements, etc, but only while it lasts.
A more permanent problem is that American iron ore is of a very low quality; the ore was good enough in early years of Industrial Revolution, but today many countries (notably Australia and Brazil) have much more ore, and of a much better quality.
I am not a specialist to explain what iron ore quality is, but it has clearly to do with the lower quality and higher cost of US steel.
Peace,
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