Disclaimer: I know nothing.
Shouldn't there be fire bricks at the bottom? I assume we're looking at the bottom! Burning right on a steel plate is not gonna work out well in the long run. Even if it didn't come with fire bricks, I would have put a layer in plus an inch of ashes.
Even in dry wood, there is still lots of moisture. When my meter reads 20%, which is what you want as the max for burning on average, that means 20% of the wood is moisture - at least that's what I have been lead to believe - see disclaimer. Add to that the corrosive stuff left over from burning.
I thought US Stoves were made in China or at least with Chinese steel. Some of the Chinese steel is not good and contains too many by products. At least, so I have read but don't believe anything on the internet these days.
If you are wanting a cheap fix, you should be able to weld a heavy steel plate at the bottom (once it's cleaned) and it'll probably be good for another 5-10 yrs.