Last year, China produced nearly eight times as much steel as the second-highest steel producing nation. In fact, China made more steel than industries could buy, causing its price to plummet.
Steel is an alloy, a mixture of a metal and one or more other elements, made up of iron (Fe) and typically carbon (C). It is superstrong, making it a good material for constructing things like buildings and cars.
The steel surplus has cost steel companies around the world huge profits. That’s led to the loss of more than 13,000 steelworker jobs in the U.S. so far this year. “The U.S. steel industry is in a crisis,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker said in April. If China doesn’t reduce steel production, it could face tariffs, or taxes, that would drive up the price of steel it exports.