Here’s a story the left-wing media and Democrats will ignore: America is building steel again, on a scale not seen in generations.
On Monday, President Donald Trump announced from the Oval Office that Mesabi Metallics will build a $15 billion steel mill in eastern Iowa. It will reportedly be the largest steel plant in American history, and in the president’s own words, this steel will be “mined, melted, and made right here in the USA.” The White House projects 1,750 permanent jobs, up to 6,000 construction jobs, and a whopping $95 billion boost to the U.S. economy in its first decade alone. Even better, the iron ore will come from Mesabi’s new mine in Minnesota, the first new iron ore mine in America in half a century.
These are some of the tangible benefits of reindustrializing America, but there is something deeper going on as well. Great countries make things. Strong and stable superpowers can produce for themselves the goods crucial to national security, such as steel, chips, and medicines.
As Trump put it, “Soon after my inauguration, I imposed powerful 50% tariffs on all foreign steel, and now, our steel industry is roaring back to life.”
For decades, the permanent political class in Washington let China dump cheap, subsidized steel into our markets. Predatory Chinese Communist Party trade practices hollowed out mill towns across the Rust Belt. Under Trump-Vance, though, those days are over, thank goodness.
Today, we correctly charge a premium to access the crown-jewel consumer market on earth: the United States. Couple those tariffs with the Working Families Tax Cust, which lets companies immediately write off new factory investment, and America is now one of the best places in the world to build.
Last month, I wrote about the quiet manufacturing boom unfolding in the heartland. The S&P Global flash manufacturing index just surged to 57 in September, the highest reading since May 2022. U.S. crude steel production has passed Japan’s for the first time since 1999. American mills now supply 84% of our own finished-steel market, and the industry has already added nearly 6,000 steelworker jobs. These are family-sustaining careers.
So, what does this mean for Iowans? For the Hawkeye State, this is a generational win, and it lands right in the middle of a key Senate race. Rep. Ashley Hinson, the GOP Senate nominee, is locked in a toss-up against radical Democrat Josh Turek, who leads by a mere half point in the RealClearPolling average.
“It is a game-changer for our state and, frankly, for the country,” Hinson said of the new steel mill. “With 1,700 jobs, I just think about the countless opportunities for Iowa families.”
But Iowa’s big win also points to Minnesota’s problems, as a state saddled with radical Democrat leadership. Mesabi’s mine sits on Minnesota’s Iron Range, which is worked by Minnesota miners. So why on earth would the company build its mill across the state line in Iowa?
Well, Minnesota state Sen. Rob Farnsworth, a Republican, nailed it: “This announcement comes as no surprise to those of us who have seen firsthand just how hard Minnesota government makes manufacturing and mining.”
That’s the devastating cost of one-party Democrat rule under Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan. And while Minnesotans just watched 1,750 good-paying jobs head south, Flanagan is running for a promotion to the U.S. Senate on an extremist agenda of open borders, defunding Immigration and Customs Enforcement, raising taxes, and eliminating private health insurance.
Thankfully, Gopher State voters have a sane alternative in political outsider Michele Tafoya. My latest Minnesota poll shows a dead heat, with Flanagan at 40% and Tafoya at 38%, within the margin of error. The more Tafoya ties Flanagan and Walz to the economically illiterate policies that just sent the biggest steel mill in American history to Iowa, the better.
The manufacturing boom comes at a crucial time, not just for jobs, but for U.S. bond markets. The tremors these markets have endured since the start of the Iran war should concern every American. With $40 trillion in federal debt, we have little wiggle room to withstand higher interest rates. Moreover, both Main Street and giant corporations now face the hurdles of far higher financing costs, from auto loans to hyperscaler buildouts.
Since an entitlement pullback seems like a political impossibility, how can America make this stifling debt manageable? How can we get yields to head lower again? Well, big picture, onshoring will play a huge role. The more domestic production flourishes and the more foreign capital flows to America, the higher productivity will soar. That scenario means strong growth without spiking inflation, exactly the combination needed to start chipping away at our mountain of debt.
So, into the home stretch of campaign season, the lesson from the heartland is clear: “America First” policies build success. The world wants to invest in America, especially when prodded by smart trade rules. Now, it’s up to the voters of Iowa and Minnesota to choose reshoring, more family-sustaining jobs, and more Main Street prosperity.
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