President Donald Trump announced a new $15 billion steel plant being built in Iowa, highlighting an economic victory in a key battleground state where Republicans face competitive midterm races.
The new plant is being built by Mesabi Metallics, a Minnesota company owned by India’s Essar Group, an industrial conglomerate. Trump said the project will become the largest steel plant in the United States. It is expected to produce 10 million tons of steel a year after it’s fully built out.
Joe Broking, CEO at Mesabi Metallics, called the announcement a “major moment for US made steel,” saying the factory would be supplying a critical product that US national defence, cars and trucks, shipbuilding, household appliances, energy and infrastructure depend on.
The plant was projected to begin production in 2030, supplied by a new $2.5bn iron ore mine that Mesabi developed along Minnesota’s Mesabi iron range. The resulting steel will be produced from start to finish in the United States, the White House said.
Trump said the American steel industry is “roaring back to life,” crediting it to the 50 per cent tariffs on steel imports that he imposed last year.
Trump in June also approved the takeover of iconic American steelmaker US Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel, a move that had been blocked by Joe Biden, his Democratic predecessor, and initially opposed by Trump as a 2024 Republican presidential candidate. After returning to office, Trump later backed a deal that gave the federal government a say in some company decisions.
Trump and Vice President JD Vance both have touched down in Iowa this year to shore up Republican enthusiasm and energise voters before the November 3 elections.
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