Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Congressmen Troy Balderson (R-OH) and Mike Kelly (R-PA) today sent a letter to President Trump urging him to correct an oversight that allows foreign electrical steel makers to circumvent certain tariffs, undercutting American makers of electrical steel and putting American manufacturing at risk. Currently, AK Steel, which has a plant in Zanesville, is the last remaining producer of electrical steel in the United States.

“We represent the nation’s only producer of electrical steel, AK Steel, which will soon be acquired by Cleveland-Cliffs.  This week, Lourenco Goncalves, chairman and chief executive officer of Cleveland-Cliffs testified before the Congressional Steel Caucus in Washington, D.C., that unless his company receives Section 232 tariff relief, he will be forced to close the two AK Steel plants in our districts.  This would mean the loss of thousands of jobs in Butler, Pennsylvania, and Zanesville, Ohio,” their letter writes.

The letter also highlights the national security risk posed by the potential of all electrical steel being produced overseas.

“The United States cannot afford to lose the one remaining producer for grain-oriented electrical steel (GOES), for economic or national security reasons.  GOES, which is used to make electrical transformers, is critical for our national power grid.  Without AK Steel’s GOES, the U.S. will be solely reliant on overseas production for material that supports America’s critical infrastructure.  If the national electrical grid were to be attacked or compromised by a natural disaster, the U.S. would need a dependable source of electrical steel to allow for rapid repair. Becoming wholly dependent on foreign producers for this vital product puts Americans at grave and unnecessary risk,” their letter continues.

Read the full letter.

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