US Steel is planning to invest a minimum of US$750 million in modernising the company's Gary Works.
The plan was announced when US Steel welcomed Indiana Governor Eric J Holcomb, the Mayor of Gary, Karen Freeman-Wilson and Ronald Brewer, the president of Gary Common Council.
According to US Steel's president and CEO David Burritt, favourable trade policies on steel imports were a major reason behind the company's decision to invest. Online media reports suggest that he was referring to President Donald Trump's decision in March to slap 25% tariffs on imported steel.
Burritt said that improvements made to the Gary plant will have positive effects on the plant's environmental performance and bolster competitiveness and will benefit the local community 'for years to come', according to the New American.com, which reported that the Chicago Tribune, in a report dated 16 August, 'noted that US Steel announced earlier this year that it was restarting two blast furnaces and hiring 800 workers' at its Granite City works near East St. Louis in Illinois.
