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We've got well over a dozen steel producers, none with more than 15% of the domestic market.
This isn't like a tarriff on passenger airplanes, which would give Boeing (the only domestic producer) unlimited pricing power up to the level of the tarriff.

Interesting observation.
I'd suspect that the Automotive Cartel (GM, Ford, DCX) used their political influence to PREVENT similar consolidation of the domestic steel industry throughout most of the 20th Century. Now that the Cartel has gone global, it has become more expedient to undermine domestic steel with imports.

I'd suspect that the Automotive Cartel (GM, Ford, DCX) used their political influence to PREVENT similar consolidation of the domestic steel industry throughout most of the 20th Century.

And your evidence for this is? The steel industry was regulated against consolidation after the trustbusters broke up US Steel.

US Market is around 125 million tons per year, IIRC. US Steel and ISG are at around 18 million tons capacity each. Even combined, they would not be a third of the total market. Even combined with Nucor (13 million tons per year, all relatively brand new investment), they wouldn't even be 40% of total market.

The "destruction" seen in places like Pittsburgh is more attributable to the rise of Nucor and Co. than to imports. A lot of imports are unfinished slabs going to mills that have spent their local iron ore deposits. Its much cheaper to send unfinished steel from a plant nearer raw materials than all the raw materials.

As far as steel employment goes, it was rather inevitable it would collapse with the onset of technology, just like it has on railroads, as we've moved from 5 man crews on steam trains to 2 man crews on diesels.

Even the banning of all imports would only, in theory, increase employment by perhaps 25%. Yet total employment in steel is down something like 80%+.