President Donald Trump on Monday announced plans to build the largest steel plant in U.S. history in Iowa — a massive facility that will produce 10 million tons of steel annually and source its raw materials entirely from American soil.
Leadership from India-based Essar Group, which owns Mesabi Metallics, joined Trump in the Oval Office alongside Iowa officials for the announcement.
“Today we’re thrilled to announce that Mesabi Metallics will be building the largest steel plant in American history in the great state of Iowa. It’s the largest plant — one of the largest plants in the world — but it’s the largest plant in America by far.”
The facility will source iron ore from a Minnesota mine — the first new iron ore mine in the United States in more than 50 years.
“This steel will be mined, melted, and made right here in the USA, which is something very unusual,” Trump said.
The project is expected to create up to 6,000 new construction jobs, nearly 2,000 manufacturing and mining jobs, and add another $95 billion to the U.S. economy.
Trump touted his steel tariff policy as the engine behind the investment, highlighting manufacturing job losses under former President Joe Biden.
“Under Sleepy Joe Biden… steel production declined significantly, and nearly 200,000 manufacturing jobs were lost in the year before I took office,” he said.
Steel is now “roaring back to life” after Trump imposed a 50 percent Section 232 tariff on steel. He first put a 25 percent tariff on steel, then raised it to 50 percent in June 2025.
“Everyone’s building their plant here because they don’t want to pay tariffs. It’s really not that complicated. A lot of people say they don’t understand it, but they do. They just don’t like to give us credit.”
Trump connected the tariff revenue to his broader economic agenda.
“Because of tariffs, we are taking in hundreds of billions of dollars of profits. It’s one of the reasons I can offer, if Republicans win the House and the Senate, $5,000 to every adult, and we can do it,” he said.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick echoed Trump’s message, crediting the steel tariffs directly for making the project viable.
“These are your 232 tariffs — the steel tariffs — at work. Without those tariffs, this mine doesn’t get built, and this steel plant does not get built,” Lutnick said.
The announcement marks a major win for Trump’s America First manufacturing agenda — and a concrete example of tariff policy driving domestic industrial investment.
.@POTUS: "Today, we're thrilled to announce that Mesabi Metallics will be building the largest steel plant in American history in the great state of Iowa." pic.twitter.com/CWbpgytfHD
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 28, 2026
.@POTUS: "This announcement is only possible because of the pro-American policies of the Trump Administration… Soon after my inauguration, I imposed powerful 50% tariffs on all foreign steel — and now, our steel industry is roaring back to life." https://t.co/vuYgfouOn9 pic.twitter.com/TrUVZ8d7gv
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 28, 2026
