Business View Magazine | December 2020

78 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2020 The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a strong blow to the steel industry, like many others. We are coming back, but progress is slow as the pandemic continues to negatively impact our customers. The industry remains concerned about excess steel capacity in China and elsewhere around the world that has fueled import surges into the U.S. and caused the loss of many American steel jobs. Previous major global economic downturns have been followed by steel import crises in this country, as foreign steel industries exported their excess production to the open U.S. market when demand in other markets dropped. If the existing steel tariffs are not maintained, history is likely to repeat itself. The American iron and steel industry is a dynamic part of the U.S. economy, accounting for more than $520 billion in economic output and supporting nearly two million jobs when