Allegheny Technologies specializes in exotic metal alloys and stainless steel. Still headquartered in Pittsburgh long after many of the other major steel manufacturers left town, the company has a proud history stretching back to Revolutionary times.
While centered in Pittsburgh, the company has recognized the realities of globalized production of steel and has opened plants in China and Europe. The corporate concentration on more exotic metals is intended to partially shield the company from international competition, but rapidly developing international competitors with significant government backing are a fact of life in the industry.
Allegheny Technologies is in the awkward position of asking for large government subsidies or protection from international competition in order to make its business more tenable. While a Democratic Congress will quite certainly be more amenable to worker-friendly trade restrictions, labor unions have reached their nadir in recent years. Without political favoritism, big steel may simply no longer be economically feasible in an environment of significantly higher labor costs.
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