I’m glad Trump has signaled his administration’s approval of these pipelines, but the “American steel only” mandate is idiotic. The only authority the government has in this regard is to demand American-made products, equipment and raw materials for projects that are built with taxpayer funds.
In this case we’re dealing with Canada, a foreign country, and multiple states. The Federal government can get involved and set terms.
The World Trade Organization has no authority over the U.S. Lets just end membership.
Te American Government has the authority to do what's best for America - we've gotten so used to the One World meme that we tend to think it's OK for others to dictate terms to us.
If it's within our borders, it's under our authority - get used to it.
In regards to the sourcing of steel pipe used for this pipeline, who supplied the pipe for the portions of the keystone that have already been installed? Was it US or foreign sourced?
More importantly, did the pipe used meet US engineering and safety standards? This is a critical infrastructure application, and few manufacturers in the world can even meet the specifications, let alone pass testing.
If you want to go low foreign bidder to save a buck, or push your import business, that’s fine and all, but with the first major failure, you and your interests will be held criminally liable.