SUM "there is no denying that China will figure prominently in America's recovery,"
No denying? To the contrary, China is part of America's problem, not recovery.

The problem is in China's much cheaper labour costs combined with huge manpower. American corporations have flocked to that at the cost of American jobs and a huge debt. That debt occured because the trade has been uneven, dollars out for Chinese products in. The only way America can recover from that is to severly lower it's cost of production and not outsource. Fat chance. Yes Americans need to sell to China BUT China is not buying American. That is part of the problem.

As for Obama, he says what American's swallow. Just political distraction and denial.

When it comes to chromite, Americans need it partly for strategic reasons, so the source ideally needs to be N. American and it's processing in N. America. Strategic means not possible to be subject to foreign whims or political control. Canada is for all practical purposes a US colony so the source of the metal is like from home.

I restate, Cliffs is just posturing. At least part of their chromite production has to be on this continent.