We depend on imports Imported materials are 10 percent of the total of the raw materials which the United States consumes, and they are of vital importance to our economy. Some of the materials we import are not found in the United States at all. In other cases, our imports supplement inadequate domestic supplies. Steel Let's take a close look at the necessity of imports to one of our most basic industries-steel. The steel industry is the backbone of any modern industrial economy. Thousands of products, from skyscrapers to zippers, depend upon steel. The United States produces more steel than any other country, about one-half of the total world output. Iron ore is, of course, basic in steel production. The United States used to be practically selfsufficient in iron ore. Today we import about 18 percent of the amount we consume, largely from Canada, Venezuela, Peru, and Sweden. However, in addition to iron ore, other materials are also essential for steel production. Every ton of ordinary steel, for example, requires about 13 pounds of manganese. The production of special steels-stainless, heat resisting, and tool steel-demands a variety of alloying metals, many of which we must import from all parts of the free world. Our supply of manganese is 88 percent imported. Russia was formerly our main source of supply. Today India, Brazil, and African countries provide us with a large portion of our needs. We are helping to expand manganese production in a number of Latin American and African countries so that these areas will be able to help us meet our increasing requirements. Our resources of nickel, chromite, and cobalt are also limited. From Canada we obtain about 80 percent of our nickel, essential in the production of stainless steels. Chromite comes from a number of free-world countries, principally the Philippines, Turkey, and the Union of South Africa. From the Belgian Congo and Belgium we import about 88 percent of the cobalt we use. Other materials are essential to steel production, and we do not have all of them in sufficient quantities to meet our needs. Through trade we obtain them from our friends in the free world. |