> Some countries declare steel to have certain properties and they do not have those properties. This is a certifiable fact.

In general I'd say that some companies do this.

I did a quick search and found a few well-published incidents:

Kobe Steel (Japan)[1]

Japan Steel Works (Japan) - although this was faked inspection on manufactured components not raw steel[2]

Ossen Innovation Materials (China)[3]

Unsubstantiated reports of issues with companies from China, Germany, Italy and the US[4]

Le Creusot (France). Fake materials used in nuclear reactors[5]

[1] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-kobe-steel-scandal-ceo-id...

[2] https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14617459

[3] https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/307694/steel-supplier-ha...

[4] https://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=304464

[5] https://www.steelavailable.com/en/counterfeit-steel-big-worr...