On November 28, local time, U.S. Commerce Secretary Raimondo and Trade Negotiator Dai Qi published an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, claiming that steel produced in China is “the dirtiest” while steel produced in the United States is “the cleanest.” .
Not long ago, US President Biden also declared that the United States and the European Union should not allow "dirty steel" ("dirty steel") from China to be dumped into the European and American markets.
Where is Pittsburgh ? This was once the "Steel Capital of the World" and a famous steel industry city in the United States, but it has now declined. Senior U.S. officials chose to publish an article here accusing the steel produced in China of "polluting the environment, destroying the trade balance, and impacting U.S. jobs" - in short, it is actually the embodiment of current U.S. trade protectionism.
Americans really have double standards for others and themselves. Have they forgotten how their steel industry developed back then? That is the real "dirty steel"!
The world's most powerful country in the 19th century was the British Empire, and the steel industry was one of the most important industries that reflected national competitiveness at that time. Until 1875, Britain's crude steel production still accounted for 40% of the world's production. The crude steel output of the United States in 1860 was only a pitiful 13,000 tons.
But after the end of the Civil War , the situation began to change. According to the American steel magnate Carnegie:
"The American people are determined to establish an independent country. Any industry that is substantially related to national security cannot rely on Europe. All forms of steel and most of the iron needed in the United States are once Relying on imports, Britain is the largest supplier. "
So the United States imposed high tariffs on British steel legislation. Between 1873 and 1890, U.S. tariffs on British steel products never fell below 50%.
By 1900, the annual crude steel output of the United States exceeded 10 million tons, becoming the world's largest steel power. Obviously, without trade protectionism , the US steel industry would not have been able to develop so rapidly.
During the rise of the U.S. steel industry, many British colleagues were deeply shocked by the cruelty and cold-bloodedness displayed by American steel manufacturers: two shifts of 12 hours a day , and the weekly working hours of workers even ranged from 72 hours to Between 89 hours. A British steel merchant who visited the United States said: "In this country, bosses drive employees to an incredible degree. They squeeze the maximum workload from employees, and employees seem to have no will or ability to resist."
Contemporaries Other observers also have this judgment: "American workers start working earlier, work harder than the British, and the average age of death is almost 10 years earlier than the British."
By the way, Carnegie also said in his autobiography This is how Pittsburgh was described in 1860:
"The smoke penetrated everything, and if you put your hand on the railing of the stairs, it turned black when you took it away. An hour after you washed your face or hands, they It will become as dirty as before. The black ash in the smoke will fall on the hair, irritating the skin, and it will be very uncomfortable.” and the environment, so that the U.S. steel industry can reach the top. Now, in order to suppress China's development and maintain its hegemony, it has picked up the big stick of high tariffs and stigmatized Chinese steel as "dirty steel" - this method is really dirty!
