There is a long history of US steelworks that refuse to die, the so-called "Lazarus" units sole by receivers in bankruptcy for a fraction of their replacement cost. They illustrate a mind set that lies at the heart of the trade dispute that divides the US steel industry from steelmakers elsewhere in the world, particularly in Europe.US steel markers see their industry as a model of private capitalism, in which market forces eliminate excess capacity by driving uncompetitive firms into bankruptcy; ergo when there is excess steelmaking capacity in the world it must be outside the USA. It follows that if foreign steelmakers sell products in the USA for prices much below the level US mills need to trade profitably, the foreign steelmakers must be trading unfairly, specifically dumping surpluses their own markets can not absorb.
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