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“We need steel,” he said. “We need steel plants. And to see an old, big monster plant like this re-opening — that is an honor. I look at the faces of you people; I could be one of you. I like you guys. I could be one of you.” That struck me as either sincere or an amazing facsimile. The workers, for their part, couldn’t give him a standing ovation because they never sat down. I left the hall thinking: Donald Trump is going to be re-elected in 2020. The Democrats don’t have anyone who can touch him. Bank on...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)President Donald Trump on Thursday spoke at a newly reopened U.S. Steel mill in the St. Louis-area town of Granite City, Illinois, calling the plant's reopening a "great victory" and an "honor." Officials with U.S. Steel said tariffs enacted by Trump led to the decision to restart a blast furnace at the mill, which brought back 500 jobs. The company has promised an additional 300 jobs by October, when it plans to restart a second blast furnace. After Trump's speech, KSDK News spoke to a steelworker who got emotional when discussing all the president has done for American workers....

Protesters greeted President Trump on his visit to Granite City, Ill., with a giant balloon depicting him as a chicken. Trump delivered remarks at the U.S. Steel Co.'s Granite City Works, where he also took credit for the plant’s reopening following his increased tariffs on imports. Protesters lined up hours ahead of his visit to greet the president with the “Trump chicken” balloon and numerous signs attacking the president as a “liar,” calling for his impeachment, and slamming his controversial “zero-tolerance” immigration policy. (TWEET-AT-LINK) Last week, another 33-foot-tall inflatable blimp depicting Trump as a chicken captured headlines after it was...

GRANITE CITY, Ill. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday trumpeted the renewed success of an Illinois steel mill, pushing back against criticism that his escalating trade disputes are hurting American workers and farmers. The president pointed to the U.S. Steel plant's reopening as a success story after he slapped tariffs on imported steel and aluminum last spring. On Wednesday, he and European leaders agreed to open talks on trade, a decision he called a breakthrough. "America never surrenders," Trump said in an address to workers at the company's steel coil warehouse in Granite City. "We don't wave the white...

President Trump traveled to Granite City, Illinois to speak to steelworkers at the US Steel plant that reopened this year. Since President Trump enacted tariffs on foreign steel imports U.S. Steel has decided to restart both furnaces, meaning the return of 800 jobs. This afternoon local KSDK reporter spoke with one of the steelworkers at the Granite City plant. The man says he is a third generation steelworker and was out of work for two-and-a-half years. He then cries as he talks about President Trump and the life he has brought back to this eastern Illinois community. US Steel Worker:...

It’s too good! Yesterday, former Obama Treasury Secretary Jack Lew was on CNBC bashing President Trump’s Trade Tactics when the news came out that Trump had reached a deal with the European Union! They asked Lew for immediate reaction and he clearly didn’t know what to say. CNBC’s Sara Eisen then directly confronted him: “If this is true, this certainly would be a win for the Administration, and it would show the World that these tough trade tactics are working . . . ."

The meeting on trade Wednesday between President Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker had all the makings of a potential crackup, but in the event it provided the best economic news in weeks. Financial markets were clearly pleased, as stocks rose across the board before the closing bell on the statements by the two presidents after their White House session. Call it a relief rally. The two sides essentially declared a tariff truce, pending negotiations on a larger trade deal between the 28-nation European Union and the U.S. Mr. Trump agreed to step back from his threat of 25%...

American steel workers at Banner Metals — which distributes metals — said they support Trump’s fair trade agenda wherein the populist president has placed a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a ten percent tariff on imported aluminum. Bronson Jones, who co-owns Banner Metals, told the Times‘ Nelson Schwartz that he sees the tariffs and Trump’s moves to hold China accountable on trade as a benefit to the American economy in the long term. “I’m not looking at what’s best for Banner right now. I’m looking at what’s best for the national economy,” Jones said. “The U.S. has been...

CANTON, Ohio - Republic Steel in Canton is adding an additional shift and plans to hire 50 people to fill various open positions at the company. The company is hiring for labor technician, crane operator, mechanical maintenance and maintenance electrical techs. The jobs pay between $19 and $23 per hour, plus incentives. Republic Steel offers the following to employees: •Medical, dental and vision benefits •401K •Pension towards Steelworks Pension Trust •Profit sharing plan •Shift premiums and Sunday premiums •Growth opportunity A two-session hiring event will be held at the Courtyard Marriott, 4375 Metro Circle NW, Canton, on July 26. The...

President Donald Trump is making his first visit to Illinois since becoming president, making a stop in Granite City on Thursday where he is expected to tout the reopening of a U.S. Steel Corp. mill. The White House announced Sunday night Trump will swing through Granite City, in southern Illinois near St. Louis and Dubuque, Iowa, on Thursday. The Trump administration has been highlighting U.S. Steel’s Granite City mill as a trade war success story even as the tariffs have sparked concerns in other sectors, with alarms sounded by Illinois farmers whose main crop is soybeans. The visit will have...

Nucor posted the highest second-quarter profit in its history as the steelmaker ramped up output to meet demand from President Trump's 25 percent tariffs on imports from overseas competitors. The Charlotte, N.C.-based company has benefited as Trump's duties reduced so-called dumping of illegally subsidized metals in the U.S. from foreign producers, said Chief Executive Officer John Ferriola. China, in particular, has long been criticized for undercutting steel prices, which harms American manufacturers. "The tariffs send a clear message that the U.S. is done asking nicely for compliance with the rules of trade and is serious about demanding changes in the...

The Senate on Wednesday took a symbolic shot at President Trump’s trade policy amid anxiety on Capitol Hill over his tariff strategy. Senators voted 88-11 to instruct lawmakers hashing out a deal on a government funding bill to include language “providing a role for Congress” on tariffs implemented for national security reasons, known as Section 232 of the trade laws. The vote is nonbinding, meaning lawmakers don’t have to add trade language into the funding bill. But the vote margin, with more senators supporting it than the amount needed to override a veto, underscores the depth of concern on Capitol...

Earlier this year, Sara Law of the Carbon Disclosure Project raised her hand at a conference in New York on government and private sector initiatives to address climate change. She politely asked the panel, which had been assembled to discuss opportunities for investing in low-carbon infrastructure, whether they knew how much cement each project might require. The panel members shifted uncomfortably in their seats and chuckled; no one jumped in immediately to respond. The problem is that many of these projects require concrete. A lot of concrete. This worries Law and her colleagues at the Carbon Disclosure Project, a non-profit...

Preparations are in full swing for Nucor Steel Sedalia LLC as the company works to establish its steel rebar micro-mill. Nucor’s local staff are operating temporarily from the J.A. Lamy Manufacturing Co. building as they oversee the lengthy process of building the third steel micro-mill in the United States. Vice President and General Manager Kevin Van De Ven said Nucor is aiming to have the facility operational by the fourth quarter of 2019. Construction contractors are in the middle of compacting and leveling dirt before building can begin. The next step will involve receiving the necessary permits to start construction....

Trump tariffs drive $500M investment in a new Ohio steel plant JSW Steel USA CEO John Hritz says the company is investing $500M to build a steel plant in Ohio instead of India during a First on FOX Business interview with Edward Lawrence. A major investment is kickstarting America’s steel industry. JSW Steel USA plans to invest $500 million to build a new factory in the U.S. Combined with a previous announcement that JSW will modernize an existing plant, the Indian-owned company is making a total investment of $1 billion after President Trump’s tax reform and tariffs on imported steel.

DULUTH, Minn. - President Trump will make his first visit to Minnesota since winning The Oval Office when he holds a rally in Duluth Wednesday night. The White House says President Trump will arrive in Duluth around 4:35 p.m. From there, President Trump will hold a round-table event with about a dozen elected officials as well as representatives from the mining and steel industry. The discussion is billed as "promoting and protecting American workers."

Dan Moore, a 58-year-old steel mill worker, gives the president an A+ on everything from tax cuts to foreign policy, but he is not so sure about tariffs. "We need tariffs, but when it starts to impact the company where you work ... you're thinking, well wait a minute, time out!" he said. Moore is worried the tariffs might cost him his job. The mill where he works, NLMK Pennsylvania, in the town of Farrell, not far from the border with Ohio, employs 750 workers and is a subsidiary of Novolipetsk Steel, or NLMK, Russia's top steelmaker. But even though...

U.S. Steel Corp. says it will restart the second of two shuttered blast furnaces at its Granite City mill and hire 300 employees. The decision by the Pittsburgh-based company follows a March announcement that it would restart the other blast furnace at the Granite City Works in the Metro East and recall 500 workers. U.S. Steel laid off hundreds of workers when it idled the furnaces in late 2015, with employment at the nearly 2,000 worker plant dipping as low as 100 in the ensuing two years. The company says the restart of the first furnace is in progress and...

New tariffs intended to bolster the American steel and aluminum industries are starting to have the opposite effect in a key part of the U.S. supply chain. U.S. steel producers are benefiting from tariffs that make it more expensive for companies to buy the metals overseas. But some U.S. firms that use the metals to make everything from refrigeration parts to wheels say the tariffs have led to higher materials prices that are forcing them to charge more for their products. These firms say that in some cases, customers are turning to foreign suppliers that use cheaper, tariff-free metals to...

Andy Marsh’s New York factory is trapped in the Trump trade wars. As Mr. Trump threatens tariffs on America’s economic allies and its adversaries, many of the domestic businesses that the president says his policies are meant to protect are finding themselves victims of his aggressive approach. Prices are rising for imported goods, other nations are erecting retaliatory trade barriers, and companies like Plug Power, the manufacturing business that Mr. Marsh runs outside Albany, are facing crippling uncertainty from Mr. Trump’s fickle approach. It is not the first time Mr. Marsh has felt firsthand the impact of decisions made hundreds...