On Thursday, Just the News posted an article about a steel mill to be built in southeast Iowa. The article explains that “Iron ore from the company’s newly opened mine near Nashwauk, Minnesota — described by the administration as the first new U.S. iron ore mine in 50 years — would move downriver and be turned into finished steel in Iowa.” America controls the manufacturing plant and the mine that supplies the material–brilliant!
That article reports:
Trump, standing in the Oval Office with Essar executives and Iowa Republicans, cast the deal as proof that raising the cost of imported metal is pulling plants onto American soil, an important message for lower and middle income Americans who have lower consumer confidence due in part to perceived high gas prices. The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index fell by 6.7 points to 81.9 (1985=100) in September, down from 88.6 in August.
References to prices, the high cost of goods and services, and oil and gas prices in particular, rose to new heights, reflecting September’s surge in fuel costs.
The article notes:
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick did not treat the mill as a coincidence. He tied it directly to the administration’s Section 232 steel duties, which Trump raised to a staggering 50% last year. Under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, Lutnick initiated investigations to determine the effects of imports on national security.
“These are your 232 tariffs, the steel tariffs at work. Without those tariffs, this mine and steel plant doesn’t get built,” Lutnick said, arguing the United States has leaned too long on imported pellets, including from Brazil. “Now we are unleashing the Iron Range in Minnesota. You go right down the Mississippi to Iowa, where they get to build a $15 billion integrated steel plant.”
Trump made the same case in plainer language, saying the domestic industry is “roaring back to life” because companies “don’t want to pay tariffs.” The administration’s theory is straightforward: if imported steel is more expensive, the math for building a mine-to-mill chain inside the United States starts to work. Lutnick said that is “exactly your plan, because you’re driving steel to America.”
The tariffs are bringing manufacturing back to America. They are also putting large amounts of money into the Treasury. The courts need to be quiet–they are standing in the way of making America fiscally secure.