OK thanks folks! I will try some of these remedies

I have rarely done any metal polishing before, so let me know if you have any favorite cloth/materials to apply these things with. Also let me know if you treat the etched areas differently.

As far as an explanation for this phenomenon, I think Gssixgun probably has the most likely hypothesis; that the steel is very fresh out of being ground into shape. I would hate to think that there is something wrong with the steel, but who knows? It shaves very well at least.