'Disappointing and devastating': Steel manufacturer fires workers and blames Trump tariffs

One steel manufacturer in the Midwest has announced it will be laying off hundreds of workers as a result of President Donald Trump's tariffs.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported Thursday that 630 steelworkers in Minnesota are about to lose their jobs. Steel manufacturer Cleveland-Cliffs, which is based in Ohio, announced that the layoffs will be at the company's operations in the Minnesota towns of Hibbing and Virginia. Those facilities specialize in steel pellets used in auto manufacturing, and Cleveland-Cliffs said they will be subjected to "temporary idles" in order to "rebalance working capital needs and consume excess pellet inventory produced in 2024."

Earlier this month, Trump announced he would be imposing new 25% tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. The Star-Tribune reported that while steelmakers like Cleveland-Cliffs expect a boost to their business as a result of the higher prices on their foreign competitors, the auto industry is still largely unprepared to shift production to the United States with new tariffs on imports from Canada, China and Mexico fast approaching in April.

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Larry Cuffe Jr., who is the mayor of Virginia, Minnesota, told the Star-Tribune that the news of the layoffs was "disappointing and devastating." He added that he was unable to get a direct answer on when Cleveland-Cliiffs would resume operations at the idled facilities beyond "when the steel prices get better."

The layoffs have prompted a strong response from Minnesota lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. State senator Grant Hauschild, who is a member of the Democratic-Farm Labor Party (Minnesota's version of the Democratic Party) said that while he believes "strategic, smart tariffs on critical industries" like steel can protect American jobs, Trump's approach is too broad.

“My fear is that, while I do support tariffs on targeted areas, perhaps what we are doing is having reverberations that go far beyond what we were thinking," Hauschild said.

Republican state representative Cal Warwas promised that the laid-off workers would have a safety net, saying he was "working on a bill for extended unemployment." Warwas added that he would "do everything in my power to mitigate the pain of this situation and work toward any solution that gets people back to work."

Click here to read the Star-Tribune's article in its entirety.