FROM EIR DAILY ALERT
Trump Tells Ohio Rally, McKinley Was a Great President and Steel Is Making a Comeback
Aug. 7, 2018 (EIRNS)—President Donald Trump continued to stress the return of American steel manufacturing in his Aug. 4 rally speech in Delaware, Ohio near Columbus, last Saturday, as he had at rallies in Pennsylvania and Illinois over the past 10 days, and also in Florida July 31. He praised Ohioan President William McKinley as
“a great President.... He understood the crucial importance of tariffs in maintaining a very strong country.... McKinley said, ‘We ought to take care of our own nation and her industries first.’ ”
Trump said that bad trade deals were made in the past, and “we are changing them now.”
Trump went on to list steel plant investments, reopenings and expansions, saying,
“Thanks to our pro-American economic policies. American steel—one of the things I’m most proud of—American steel is making one of the biggest comebacks that anybody has ever seen for any industry.”
In Illinois, Trump appeared July 26 before workers at the U.S. Steel Granite City plant, where a new shift is starting for the reopened blast furnace works, shut since 2015. He said, “If you don’t have steel, you don’t have a country.” U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt spoke alongside Trump, telling workers, “We have a President that believes in you.”
In Pennsylvania, Trump appeared Aug. 2 at Wilkes-Barre, in old coal country, calling on Pennsylvanians to support his returning steel jobs to the state, and more than 300,000 manufacturing jobs to the country at large.
At the Ohio rally, Trump gave a run-down of new steel activity, saying that until now,
“The steel mills were closing; they were all closing up. Nucor has announced an $85 million upgrade in Marion [Ohio]. Charter Steel announced a new $150 million steel plant in Cuyahoga Heights. JSW Steel is restarting the furnace and investing $500 million in Mingo Junction and Cleveland Cliffs announced a $700 million plant in Toledo.
“United States Steel is building or renovating or improving over seven new plants. They never thought they would see a day when this happens. This all happened within a very short period of time because we’ve stopped the dumping. If they want to dump, you know what, that’s fine, but they have to pay a 25% tax. It’s amazing what impact that has on people that want to rip-off and destroy our industries....”
Trump’s stress on steel and manufacturing jobs, going back to his 2016 campaign, is in sharp contrast to the has-been Hillary Clinton camp, which put out “job re-training” at best, and much worse, as their program, for “deplorables” in the rust belt and coal country. Now, the hysterical media from this camp are disputing “data” issues with Trump, e.g., whether “four or seven” U.S. Steel facilities are expanding.
In his early months in office, Trump commissioned a study of steel. On April 21, 2017, he signed a memorandum, “Steel Imports and Threats to National Security,” calling for a report-back within 50 days. He was joined by leaders of steel firms, the United Steelworkers union, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
