Th::Rol~~r Im~rts
Table 2.24 contains data on world and United States steel
trade. It is apparent that the Uniteà States has moved from
a net exporter of steel mill products to a significant net
importer. In an effort to àetermine if the longrun pricing
policy has been responsible for this change, tnree selected
steel mill products are examined: hot r?,;le.d carbon sheet (HRS).,
cold rolled carbon sheet (CRS), and wire rod (WR).
HRS and CRS were selected because they are representative
of flat rolleò proõucts, generally produced by major steel
mills and because together they account for one-third of net
industry shipments. WR was chosen because it is representative
of the non-flat type product which the rninimills are capable
of producing. Tables 4.2, 4
.3, and 4.4 present import and
export òata relevant to these three products àur ing the years
1950-76.
Clearly, cOffparative cost considerations are crucial in
òetermining if pricing policy contributed to the observed
erosion of àomestic markets. The pricing policy hypothesis
of import erosion argues that dOffestic producers maintained
prices above competitive levels, thereby forming a price
umbrella under which competitively priced imports were free
to eroòe domestic markets. However, if costs for foreign
producers fell relative to domestic proàucers dur ing the
1955-71 per iod, that would significantly contr ibute to the
i
observed pattern of import erosion.
