Steel City: Country's industry to continue ironing out changes

Last week, President Donald Trump held a rally in a steel plant in Pittsburgh. The place was filled to the rafters with members of four different Teamsters’ Union locals. Hard hats and “Make America Great Again” caps were worn by just about everyone. It felt like one of last year’s campaign rallies. In fact, the president began his speech by thanking everyone there for voting for him. He was extremely confident they had because his actions during his previous administration had saved the United States steel industry.

Trump went on to describe how countries like China subsidized their steel industry, produced garbage steel, and then dumped it in America at below manufacturing cost in an effort to drive United States steel producers out of business. Many plants had already shut down when Trump had stepped in and imposed a 25 percent tariff on all imported steel. He did so for two reasons. He wanted to save thousands of steel-making jobs. He also recognized that steel was essential for American security. If China produces all our steel and we at some point go to war with them, how would we able to produce tanks and other weapons made of steel? We have to maintain our own secure domestic supply.

President Trump then declared that under Biden the unraveling of U.S. Steel had resumed and worsened. As a result, Japan steel had stepped in with plans to buy United States steel. Trump had opposed such a takeover, and when he was reelected he prevented such an eventuality. He ultimately had worked matters so that Japan steel had merely invested in United States steel. Indeed, top executives of both Japan steel and U.S. Steel were present at the celebration of the endurance and strengthening of United States Steel.

United States Steel was going to continue to grow and hire thousands more workers. In order to insure that it would, the president then announced he would be doubling the tariff on imported steel (increasing it to 50 percent). On hearing this, the rally erupted into thunderous applause. 

Some people had been making dire predictions that the new tariffs would increase domestic prices and produce a spike in domestic inflation. Trump pointed out, however, that the latest economic news showed that his increased gasoline production had caused a reduction of gas prices and (as predicted) had done away with inflation.

When the “Big Beautiful Bill” passes the Senate and is signed into law, it will cause the largest decrease in income taxes in history and will both jumpstart the economy and prevent any future inflation. It will also exempt social security income from taxation as well as doing away with the taxation of tips.

Trump also addressed charges that the cumulative effect of all these changes would be to increase deficit spending by billions of dollars yearly. On the contrary, he asserted, the influx of trillions of dollars in new investment in America he had obtained, coupled with the boost to the economy produced by the income tax reduction, would produce a tremendous increase in the number of people earning incomes and paying taxes and would ultimately reduce (not increase) deficit spending.

The question at this point is whether the Senate will pass the “Big Beautiful Bill” and send it to the president for his signature. If that happens, middle class Americans will receive thousands of additional dollars in retained pay. Even as that happens, U.S. Steel will prosper and grow, creating thousands of new jobs. The new trillions now being invested in the United States by overseas companies will further expand the economy and produce jobs.

America will truly become great again.

Editor's note: It has been reported that the tariffs on steel and aluminum have been doubled to 50 percent.

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Tom Haughey is Senior Advisor of the Texas Republican County Chairman’s Association.