Fatal explosion at U.S. Steel's plant raises questions about its future despite heavy investment

HARRISBURG, Pa. — The fatal explosion last week at U.S. Steel’s Pittsburgh-area coal-processing plant has revived debate about its future just as the iconic American company was emerging from a long period of uncertainty.

The fortunes of steelmaking in the United States — along with profits, share prices and steel prices — have been buoyed by years of friendly administrations in Washington that slapped tariffs on foreign imports and bolstered the industry’s anticompetitive trade cases against China.

Most recently, President Trump’s administration postponed new hazardous air pollution requirements for the nation’s roughly dozen coke plants, including Clairton Coke Works, where the blast occurred, and he approved U.S. Steel’s nearly $15-billion acquisition by Japanese steelmaker Nippon S