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A steel industry expert on Monday praised President Donald Trump’s announcement of a massive new steel mill in Iowa, arguing that the project will help meet growing domestic demand while creating opportunities to expand U.S. steel exports.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Kevin Dempsey, CEO of the American Iron and Steel Institute, made the remarks after Trump announced the $15 billion steel project alongside Mesabi Metallics.
The project is expected to eventually produce up to 10 million tons of steel annually, primarily using iron ore from the company’s recently opened Minnesota mine. Once completed, it would be the largest steel production facility in the U.S. and part of an all-American supply chain.
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“I think it will be good for the States to have more steel produced here because demand for steel in the United States is growing. … We want to have advanced steelmaking in the U.S. for domestic industry, for automotive, for construction, for national defense,” Dempsey said.
“As we continue to grow, we can export more of that steel to other countries,” he added.
According to Dempsey, the U.S. moved up last year to become the third-largest steel producer in the world, surpassing Japan and trailing behind China and India. The U.S. accounts for just 4% of global steel production, he said.
“We’re a very vibrant, dynamic industry. We’ve had a lot of new investment in recent years, thanks to the president’s tariffs,” Dempsey said. “But there’s still room to continue to grow. There’s room to further increase domestic production in the U.S. to meet the demands for steel in the U.S. And so, that’s why we’re encouraged that there’s new steel mills being built.”
Dempsey described steel as “the backbone of manufacturing,” noting that industries ranging from energy and automobiles to construction and national defense rely heavily on the material.
The new plant will also surpass what used to be the country’s largest steel mill by roughly 2 million tons, Dempsey said.
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He added that the announcement is evidence that Trump’s tariff strategy is taking shape. Federal tariffs also helped reduce foreign steel imports from 44 million tons in 2014 to 25 million tons last year, according to Dempsey.
“The policies he initiated in his first term to rebuild and strengthen our manufacturing sector and to start with steel. … We’re very pleased that he’s continuing that focus,” Dempsey said.
Dempsey argued that tariff protections have also given companies greater confidence to invest private capital in new U.S. steel production without fear of foreign overproduction undercutting their investments.
“That’s given businesses the confidence to invest their own private money in new steel mills in the United States, and we’re very encouraged,” he said.
Canada, which has historically been a major steel exporter to the U.S., should also consider adopting similar tariff policies to protect its domestic producers from foreign competition and strengthen the North American steel market, Dempsey said.
“They really should rethink the current policy approach they’re taking, and they should move to adopt a similar approach to what the U.S. is taking,” Dempsey said.
“Right now, the problem is they don’t have that same strong tariff in Canada and so Canadian steel producers are being largely hurt by steel being imported from outside the region.”
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