Economy

Eight New Plants at U.S. Steel? Trump's Claim Not True

September 28, 2018

U.S. Steel is not opening eight new steel plants. No matter how many times President Trump claims that they are.

In a wide-ranging press conference this week in advance of the hearing of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump commented on a number of issues including the economy and his steel tariffs. Once again, he repeated his oft-mentioned assertion that “U.S. Steel is opening up a minimum of eight plants” as a result of the tariffs.

Can that possibly be true? Steel Market Update asked the company for confirmation. U.S. Steel is a supporter of the president and his tariffs and is understandably reluctant to contradict him, but the following statement from the company certainly does not make mention of eight new plants:

“All of our operational changes have been publicly announced and all information shared with the federal government has been properly disclosed and made available on our website. We have shared with the government our asset revitalization investments, construction of the new CGL line at our PRO-TEC joint venture in Ohio, and updates on the restart of Granite City Works’ two blast furnaces and multiple related steelmaking facilities. As the president noted in his speech at our Granite City Works facility, a number of other American steelmakers have also made announcements on new investments and capacity.”

As President Trump well knows, if you say something loud enough and long enough, many people will believe it. In the case of U.S. Steel, no matter the frequency or the volume of the president’s claims, the company has no plans to open eight new plants.