US Administration Plans Cuts to Key Industrial Grants Impacting Rust Belt Manufacturing | Ukraine news
The central thrust of the United States’ economic policy under the “America First” banner is to revitalize domestic manufacturing. However, the Trump administration plans to cut one of the key programs that funds the largest industries, including a city at the heart of the Rust Belt – the hometown of Vice President JD Vance.
A $500 million grant from the Biden administration was designated for the Cleveland-Cliffs steel company in Middletown, Ohio, to modernize aging blast furnaces; another $75 million was allocated for a similar project in Pennsylvania.
New furnaces powered by hydrogen, natural gas, and electricity – rather than coal – were meant to extend the plant’s life and secure the company’s future.
But these grants, which were to create more than 100 permanent jobs and 1,200 construction jobs just in Middletown, according to internal administration documents obtained by CNN, are slated to be canceled.
Representatives from the Department of Government Efficiency participated in deciding which programs to keep and which to cut, according to two people familiar with the situation.
“An unelected billionaire who made his fortune on government contracts should not be able to unilaterally stop these programs.”
– Marcy Kaptur
Energy Department spokesperson Ben Ditterich stated that “no final decisions have yet been made” regarding funding, and that “several plans are being considered.”
The Energy Department froze billions of dollars in grant programs during the Biden administration for months, reviewing them and determining which to cut. The $6.3 billion program that financed equipment modernization for Cleveland-Cliffs and other large companies could be cut by nearly half according to internal CNN documents.
Experts warn that such cuts could have a chilling effect on American industry amid a tariff war led by Trump that is undermining markets and supply chains.
“The entire point of OCED and the $6.3 billion grant programs is to invest in companies and industries that have not received funding for decades – steel and cement.”
– a former DOE employee
Samira Fazili, Deputy Director of the National Economic Council under the Biden administration, notes that reductions could deal a serious blow to the United States’ core industries, especially given the economic uncertainty caused by tariffs.
She emphasizes that instead of cutting public investments, strategic investments should be undertaken to preserve manufacturing and strengthen the country’s competitiveness.
Ultimately, experts call for a measured approach: carefully chosen government investments can preserve jobs and the United States’ industrial capacity, particularly in regions tied to essential industries.
