For the U.S. steel industry, the 1970s were a difficult decade. Bethlehem Steel and Lykes-Youngstown closed plants in 1977 accounting for almost five mil lion tons annual capacity, approximately three percent of total U.S. capacity. More than five thousand workers were laid off in the Youngstown area alone. Further plant closings by Bethlehem, U.S. Steel, and finally the merger of Lykes' Youngstown and LTV's Jones and Laughlin steel operations resulted in further layoffs and dislocations. During this period, imported steel con tinued to enlarge its share of the domestic, market despite import quotas for specialty steels and the initiation of a "trigger price" mechanism to protect U.S. steel makers from foreign competitors.