On average, U.S. steel production is among the least carbon-intensive in the world. This is primarily the result of the type of production process the industry employs. Nearly half of all steel in the United States is made in “mini mills,” which use electricity to recycle scrap steel rather than starting from scratch by burning coal and coke to melt iron ore into iron.

Despite the concern about carbon-intensive imports from China, they account for less than 10 percent of all but cement imports. Canada is the largest foreign source of all carbon-intensive imports except chemicals, where it ranks second only to Trinidad and Tobago. Canada accounts for more than half of U.S. paper and aluminum imports, compared with China at 3 percent. That said, it is important to note that over the past 15 years, more U.S. carbon-intensive imports have come from developing countries. How this trend translates into competitiveness of U.S.

The United States runs a trade deficit in all five carbon-intensive industries included in the Peterson Institute for International Economics/WRI report "Leveling the Carbon Playing Field", despite running a trade surplus in certain product lines. Aluminum is, by far, the most exposed to trade, with net imports accounting for 60 percent of U.S. consumption. But even in cement, long considered the classic “nontradable,” foreign producers meet nearly 25 percent of domestic demand.

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