Ohio has a long history with the steel industry. In the 19th century, the steel making boom played a key role in growing the Buckeye State. 

But unfortunately, in recent decades, American steel began to encounter serious challenges. Global shifts and outright cheating by foreign competitors such as China have caused job losses, economic hardship and population decline in formerly thriving steel towns and cities across our heartland. 

And in January, in his final days in office, President Joe Biden dealt our steel sector another blow by blocking a proposal that would have invested nearly $15 billion in U.S. Steel.

Fortunately, President Donald Trump’s agenda has already begun to turn the tide back in favor of domestic steel making. The president’s tariffs and trade policies are already benefiting this crucial industry. 

Now Trump can hit the accelerator on his agenda and catapult U.S. Steel back into the ranks of the top steel producers on the planet by correcting Biden’s mistake and approving the landmark investment by Nippon Steel in U.S. Steel.

This historic partnership with Nippon would make U. S. Steel part of the third-largest steel producer in the entire world, quite the step up from U.S. Steel’s current ranking of #24. 

The influx of new money and world-class technology would set the company up for a major, long-term comeback, leveling our playing field against Chinese steel and putting Made In America supply chains on stronger footing.

Nippon would pour billions of dollars into upgrading U.S. Steel’s plants in Pennsylvania, Arkansas and Indiana — a huge win for American steel, American security and American workers.

Some international labor executives who opposed Trump have tried to block the investment, but the rank-and-file steelworkers on the ground support it. The hardworking men and women on the ground understand that we can do better than the status quo. 

There is nobody in the world American steelworkers cannot out-compete if they have a fair shot, a level playing field and the modern tools and equipment they need to get the job done. The huge investment from Nippon is the only future on the table for U.S. Steel that would transform its future and bring long-term prosperity back to communities that have been left behind.

In fact, the proposed investment comes with guarantees that no American steelworkers can be laid off, protecting 14,000 good jobs, and that no American plants can be closed or idled. It even comes with an immediate $5,000 bonus for each worker. And the benefits go beyond just securing jobs that already exist. A boom of construction and expansion in these plants would almost certainly create new jobs and opportunities for Americans, reaching beyond the steel industry itself.

Trump has said, “When America is united, America is unstoppable.”  Approving this investment would be another huge win in Trump’s quest to reindustrialize our country and make America great again.

The American people, steelworkers and union members support this step to getting American steel back to greatness.

— Steve Sydow is the retired city electrician for Ironton and the owner of SJS Electric.