The Trump administration plans to terminate a $500 million grant to Cleveland-Cliffs, a steel giant in Middletown, Ohio, aimed at upgrading its aging blast furnaces. The grant was part of the Biden administration’s $6.3 billion program to modernize equipment in major industrial companies.
Cleveland-Cliffs would have used the funds to upgrade its blast furnaces, which run on climate-friendly hydrogen, natural gas, and electricity instead of coal. The project would have created over 100 permanent jobs and 1,200 construction jobs in Middletown alone.
The decision has sparked criticism from Democrats, who argue that cutting funding for such projects is counterproductive to the administration’s goals of strengthening US economic competitiveness and reshoring manufacturing.
“We’re trying to invest in companies and industries that haven’t been invested in for decades – steel, cement,” said Sameera Fazili, a former deputy director of the National Economic Council under Biden. “You can’t say you’re supporting manufacturing and then do things that prevent that manufacturing from coming in.”
Industry experts fear that the cuts could have a chilling effect on America’s manufacturing industry, especially given the global economic uncertainty caused by Trump’s tariff war.
The Energy Department has frozen billions of dollars in federal grant programs while reviewing them. The department plans to consider multiple plans for these programs, but no final decisions have been made yet.
Cleveland-Cliffs did not respond to requests for comment on the funding. If the grant is terminated, it would be up to the company to decide whether or not to shoulder the cost of the project alone.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/08/climate/steel-project-federal-cuts-middletown-ohio/index.html