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Cleveland-Cliffs closure: state lawmakers react [1]

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Date: 2024-02-15  

State lawmakers are voicing anger and disappointment after the Thursday morning announcement that a tin production facility in Weirton will shutter in April.

Cleveland-Cliffs, which bills itself as the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America, announced that it would idle its facility in the state’s Northern Panhandle in less than two months, affecting some 900 workers. The company will offer severance packages and relocation options to employees.

“This could be potentially devastating for the city of Weirton,” said Del. Mark Zatezelo, a Republican who represents the city and nearby communities.

Sen. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, who grew up in the area, said that the region has dealt with a number of challenges after the former Weirton Steel plant, a compound that once employed thousands, filed for bankruptcy in 2003.

“This is the third closure in the area recently,” he said in an interview, pointing to parts of a black-and-white panoramic photo hanging in his Capitol office that shows the property where the now-demolished steel mill once stood.

The Cleveland-Cliffs facility is part of the same compound where Form Energy will soon open a battery manufacturing facility in the area.

State lawmakers said that it was too early to know exactly how the Legislature will act to help the region. Weld noted that most immediately, people may need to seek support from Workforce West Virginia, adding that the agency will need to help laid off workers navigate the unemployment benefits process and search for new jobs.

In the long-term, he said that the state will need to figure out how it can help.

The decision to idle the Weirton tin facility indefinitely comes a little over a week after the United States International Trade Commission ruled unanimously that it would not impose higher tariffs — taxes one country puts on goods imported from somewhere else — on tin and chromium sheet steel products from four countries. The ruling rejected a previous decision by the Department of Commerce that would have increased these tariffs.

Cleveland-Cliffs joined with the United Steelworkers union last year to argue that the countries were guilty of selling goods for less than their fair market value, a practice that is known as “dumping.” The groups also argued that these efforts were being subsidized by other governments, effectively creating an uneven playing field for American tin producers.

On Thursday, the company said its decision to close the Weirton facility was a direct result of this month’s “unfavorable” ruling by making it impossible to viably produce tinplate.

Zatezalo argued that the state’s hands are somewhat tied, noting that the tariff decision is not one that they can influence directly.

“We’re going to have to look down the road and see what can happen,” he said. “It’s a difficult situation.”

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[1] Url: https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2024/02/15/cleveland-cliffs-weirton-idle-closure-lawmakers/

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