President Donald Trump on Monday announced plans to build the largest steel plant in U.S. history in Iowa.
Leadership from India-based Essar Group, which owns Mesabi Metallics, joined Trump in the Oval Office, along with a number of Iowa officials, for the announcement.
“Today we’re thrilled to announce that Mesabi Metallics will be building the largest steel plant in American history in the great state of Iowa. It’s the largest plant — one of the largest plants in the world — but it’s the largest plant in America by far,” Trump said.
Trump said that once operational, the plant will source iron ore from a Minnesota mine and produce a whopping 10 million tons of steel annually.
“But it’s the first new iron ore mine in the United States in more than 50 years with the highest quality ore. In other words, this steel will be mined, melted, and made right here in the USA, which is something very unusual,” he said.
“The project is expected to create up to 6,000 new construction jobs, nearly 2,000 manufacturing and mining jobs, and add another $95 billion to the U.S. economy, which is the number one economy in the world by far,” he added.
Trump touted his steel tariff policy and highlighted manufacturing job losses under former President Joe Biden.
“Under Sleepy Joe Biden… steel production declined significantly, and nearly 200,000 manufacturing jobs were lost in the year before I took office,” he said.
He added that steel is “roaring back to life” after he imposed a 50 percent Section 232 tariff on steel. He first put a 25 percent tariff on steel, and upped it to 50 percent in June 2025.
“Everyone’s building their plant here because they don’t want to pay tariffs. It’s really not that complicated. A lot of people say they don’t understand it, but they do. They just don’t like to give us credit,” he said.
“Because of tariffs, we are taking in hundreds of billions of dollars of profits. It’s one of the reasons I can offer, if Republicans win the House and the Senate, $5,000 to every adult, and we can do it,” he added.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick echoed Trump’s sentiment on tariffs.
“These are your 232 tariffs — the steel tariffs — at work. Without those tariffs, this mine doesn’t get built, and this steel plant does not get built,” Lutnick said.
Read the full article here