Critical Reasoning

The imposition of quotas limiting imported steel will not help the big American steel mills. In fact, the quotas
will help "mini-mills" flourish in the United States. Those small domestic mills will take more business from the
big Americal steel mills than would have been taken by the foreign steel mills in the absence of quotas.

Which of the following, if true, would cast the most serious doubt on the claim made in the last sentence
above?
(A) Quality rather than price is a major factor in determining the type of steel to be used for a particular
application.

(B) Foreign steel mills have long produced grades of steel comparable in quality to the steel produced by the
big American mills.

(C) American quotas on imported goods have often induced other countries to impose similar quotas on
American goods.

(D) Domestic "mini-mills" consistently produce better grades of steel than do the big American mills.

(E) Domestic "mini-mills" produce low-volume, specialized types of steels that are not produced by the big
American steel mills.

I am between D and E
I chose not to go with E because the big steel mills dont produce specialized types of steel so the small steel mills are not competing with them.
The market that is catered to by the big mills if different from the market that is catered to by the small steel mills.
3rd CR i got wrong in a row
Well edit:I misunderstood the question
E weakens doesnt it

mundasingh123 wrote:The imposition of quotas limiting imported steel will not help the big American steel mills. In fact, the quotas
will help "mini-mills" flourish in the United States. Those small domestic mills will take more business from the
big Americal steel mills than would have been taken by the foreign steel mills in the absence of quotas.

Which of the following, if true, would cast the most serious doubt on the claim made in the last sentence
above?
(A) Quality rather than price is a major factor in determining the type of steel to be used for a particular
application.

(B) Foreign steel mills have long produced grades of steel comparable in quality to the steel produced by the
big American mills.

(C) American quotas on imported goods have often induced other countries to impose similar quotas on
American goods.

(D) Domestic "mini-mills" consistently produce better grades of steel than do the big American mills.

(E) Domestic "mini-mills" produce low-volume, specialized types of steels that are not produced by the big
American steel mills.

I am between D and E
I chose not to go with E because the big steel mills dont produce specialized types of steel so the small steel mills are not competing with them.
The market that is catered to by the big mills if different from the market that is catered to by the small steel mills.
3rd CR i got wrong in a row
Well edit:I misunderstood the question
E weakens doesnt it

I agree. E should be the correct answer. Mini-mills produce low-volume specialized type of steels which are not the requirements of the majority of the steel users. Thus bigger mills that produce non-specialized (or more volume) will flourish if imports are restricted. This weakens the conclusion that mini-mills will flourish.

IMO E

mundasingh123 wrote:The imposition of quotas limiting imported steel will not help the big American steel mills. In fact, the quotas will help "mini-mills" flourish in the United States. Those small domestic mills will take more business from the
big American steel mills than would have been taken by the foreign steel mills in the absence of quotas.

Which of the following, if true, would cast the most serious doubt on the claim made in the last sentence
above?
(A) Quality rather than price is a major factor in determining the type of steel to be used for a particular
application.

(B) Foreign steel mills have long produced grades of steel comparable in quality to the steel produced by the
big American mills.

(C) American quotas on imported goods have often induced other countries to impose similar quotas on
American goods.

(D) Domestic "mini-mills" consistently produce better grades of steel than do the big American mills.

(E) Domestic "mini-mills" produce low-volume, specialized types of steels that are not produced by the big
American steel mills.

I am between D and E

D strengthens the argument, on the other hand, E weakens the last sentence.