Trump Unveils a $15 Billion Iowa Steel Plant Weeks Before the Midterms

President Trump announced in the Oval Office on Monday that Mesabi Metallics plans to build a $15 billion steel mill in Iowa, a project the White House described as the first plant of its scale in the United States in decades and as proof that its steel tariffs are drawing investment home.

According to a White House official, the plant is expected to begin production in 2030 and to create up to 1,750 permanent jobs. It would be supplied with iron ore from a new Mesabi mine on Minnesota’s Iron Range, which the company says will come online soon, and the administration says the mill’s high-grade steel could serve defense needs. The company has not said exactly where in Iowa it will build; Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the site would be in the southeastern part of the state.

Mr. Trump tied the project directly to his trade policy. He said the steel would be mined, melted and made in the United States and credited his 50 percent tariff on most imported steel, which he doubled last year, with reviving the industry. The Supreme Court struck down many of his tariffs this year but left the duties on steel and aluminum in place, and steel industry groups have urged him to keep them.

Public money is part of the picture, though not directly for the mill. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the plant itself would receive no direct federal support. The government’s Export-Import Bank, however, is financing Mesabi’s iron ore operation in Minnesota; its board approved a $770 million direct loan on Sept. 24, an agency spokesperson told CBS News, and the bank had earlier described potential support of up to $10 billion. Iowa lawmakers may also be asked to approve state tax breaks for the company, according to local reporting cited by CBS.

The company’s history is a reason for caution. Mesabi, which is owned by India’s Essar Group, has been trying for years to complete the Minnesota project. Its predecessor began work on the mine in 2008, then went through missed deadlines, financial trouble and a 2016 bankruptcy, and Minnesota officials later moved to bar the company from doing business with the state before that process was dropped. Minnesota legislators who welcomed the mine’s progress have also said residents of the region waited far too long for the promised jobs.

Politics hovered over the announcement. Iowa has competitive races this fall for governor, an open Senate seat and at least two House districts, and the president said he would return to the state for a rally before Election Day. Sen. Joni Ernst, who is not seeking reelection, thanked Mr. Trump and the company.

Supporters of the tariffs argue that a project of this size is exactly what the policy was meant to produce: domestic capacity for a strategic material that the country has allowed to shrink. Skeptics note that the mill is years from opening, that the company has struggled to finish a smaller project, and that tariffs raise steel costs for American manufacturers and consumers in the meantime. Mesabi and Essar did not respond to requests for comment from CBS News.