In a consent decree before a circuit court last week, U.S. Steel Corp. gave up a 24-year court fight to save the "Pittsburgh plus" basing-point system of setting steel prices. The company promised to adhere "to a pricing method that does not conflict with the requirements of the Federal Trade Commission." But U.S. Steel, which had voluntarily abandoned basing points when they were outlawed in the cement industry (TIME, July 19), had not given up the fight for good; it had merely shifted the battleground. What it had lost in the courts, Big Steel, and all other steelmakers, hoped...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
