Rust Belt

The term rust belt refers to areas in the northeastern United States whose economy was formerly based largely on heavy industry, manufacturing, and associated industries. With the expansion of worldwide free trade agreements in the 1960s, it became far cheaper to produce heavy industrial goods such as steel in third world countries and import them to the United States. As a result, the economy of rust belt areas was decimated, as one factory after another was driven out of business and closed down.

The areas are so called because of the unused, rusting machinery left over from the industrial production days.